[Prolactin (PRL), thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroid hormones (fT4), (fT3) and testosterone (TTE) level in men with chronic heart failure].

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a global disease in which beside renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAA) system most endocrinal glands are affected. The occurrence of these disorders depends on the degree of heart failure. The influence on prognosis and therapeutic strategy is not known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of secretion disturbances of chosen hormones: prolactin (PRL), testosterone (TTE), thyroid hormones fT3, fT4 and TSH in a group of male in NYHA functional class II-IV and left ventricular ejection fraction less than 35% dependently on clinical degree of CHF and left ventricular defect. 27 male aged 35-83 years (mean 55,4) with different etiology of heart failure were enrolled in to the study. 3 groups (A, B, C) were selected dependently on NYHA class-group A - NYHA II (9), B - NYHA III (8), C - NYHA IV (10) and D group of healthy volunteers. 3 other groups were selected accordingly to left ventricular ejection fraction - I - 30-35% (14), II - 20-29% (8), III - <20% (5), IV - normal ventricular ejection fraction (10). The immunofluorescent tests were used for measuring chosen hormones concentration in blood serum. In 14 from 27 (52%) hormonal disturbances were found. No changes were noted in group A. All noted disturbances were observed in group B and C (NYHA class III/IV) more frequent in group C (90%) vs B (75%). This relation was not observed in connection with left ventricular ejection fraction. Elevated serum PRL (8) and decreased TTE concentration (5) were the most frequent hormone changes in whole study group. Results of this study confirm that CHE is often accompanied by disturbances in endocrinal glands secretion. The frequency of these disturbances rises with the degree of clinical advance of CHF.