Menstrual cycle hormonal profiles of women with and without premenstrual syndrome.

This paper compares the urinary hormone profiles of estrogen and pregnanediol in women with documented premenstrual syndrome (PMS) (n = 65) and asymptomatic volunteers (n = 18). Daily 24-h urine samples were collected for an entire menstrual cycle. Subject groups did not differ significantly in menses length or in the day of the preovulatory estrogen peak. Cycle length was significantly shorter for the volunteers (p < 0.05). The day of the pregnanediol peak occurred significantly later for the PMS patient group than for the asymptomatic volunteers (p < 0.05). Split plot analysis of variance showed no significant differences overall between subject groups for levels of urinary estrogen or pregnanediol. This study did not find evidence of progesterone deficiency amongst sufferers of the premenstrual syndrome.