Background: Amenorrhea is the absence of menstrual periods. It has multiple social consequences as it may leads to infertility. This case control study was conducted for determining the association of thyroid hormones with hyperprolactinemia in patient with amenorrhea. Methods: We investigated 50 women with diagnosed cases of secondary amenorrhoea, who attended UCMS hospital, for hormonal evaluations. Fifty two healthy women were taken as the controls. The thyroid dysfunction and serum prolactin level were reviewed in cases and in the controls. Results: Mean serum prolactin level was found to be significantly higher in the cases as compared to the controls. Mean serum fT3 and fT4 level in the hyperprolactinemic cases (mean = 2.67, SD = 1.04 pg/ml) and (mean = 1.38, SD = 0.51 ng/dl respectively) were slightly lower as compared to normoprolactinemic cases (mean = 3.21, SD = 1.86 pg/ml) and (mean = 1.73, SD = 1.37 ng/dl) respectively. Mean TSH of normoprolactinemic and hyperprolactinemic cases were comparable (P = 0.049). There was positive correlation between prolactin, BMI and TSH whereas negative correlation of prolactin was seen with fT3, fT4 and age. In hyperprolactainemic cases, prolactin was found to be negatively correlated with TSH (r = -0.155, P = 0.491) whereas prolactin was positively correlated with TSH (r = 0.296, P = 0.126) in normoprolactainemic cases. Conclusions: Thus, hyperprolactinemia with thyroid dysfunction may be contributory hormonal factor in patient with amenorrhoea and as such, estimation of prolactin, fT3, fT4 and TSH should be included for diagnostic evaluation of amenorrhea.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a biphasic type of skin inflammation characterized by a predominance of type-2 ­(TH2) and type-1 ­(TH1) helper T cell-biased immune responses at the acute and persistent chronic phases, respectively. The present study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Artemisia dubia folium extract (ADFE) on ADlike skin lesions through developing a murine model for acute and chronic stages of AD. To induce acute phase AD, the dorsal skin of BALB/c mice was sensitized twice a week with 1% 2, 4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB), followed by challenge (twice) in the following week with 0.2% DNCB. To induce persistent chronic AD, some mice were challenged twice a week for 4 more weeks. After the second challenge, the dorsal skin was exposed to 3% ADFE (five times per week) for 2 weeks (acute phase) or 4 weeks (persistent chronic phase). Results: The paradigm of ­TH2 or  ­TH1 predominance at the acute and chronic phase, respectively, was observed in this mouse model. During the acute phase, we observed an increased IL-4/IFN-γ ratio in splenic culture supernatants,an increased IgG1/IgG2a ratio in serum, and elevated serum IgE levels; however, the skew toward ­TH2 responses was diminished during the chronic stage. Compared with vehicle controls, ADFE reduced the IL-4/IFN-γ and IgG1/ IgG2a ratios in acute AD, but both ratios increased during the chronic stage. Conclusions Our results suggest that ADFE concomitantly suppresses the ­TH2 predominant response in acute AD, as well as the ­TH1 predominant response in chronic AD. Thus, ADFE is a candidate therapeutic for AD.