Anti-corpus luteum antibody and menstrual irregularity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and Hashimoto's thyroiditis

The aim of the present study was to verify the presence of anti- corpus luteum antibodies ( anti- CoL) in systemic lupus erythematosus ( SLE) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis ( HT) patients, as well as establish its possible correlation with menstrual and/ or hormonal disturbances in both populations and with SLE activity. Forty- six patients with SLE, 31 with HT, four with both SLE and HT, and 36 healthy women were studied. Out of these, seven ( 15.2%) patients with SLE, three ( 9.7%) with HT, three ( 75%) with both pathologies, and none of the healthy controls tested positive for anti- CoL. The presence of anti-CoL was not significantly correlated to menstrual disturbance ( P = 0.083), changes in the level of follicle stimulating hormone ( P = 1.0), luteinizing hormone ( P = 0.284), estradiol ( P = 0.316), prolactin ( P = 1.0) or SLE activity measured by SLEDAI ( P = 0.756) in SLE patients. There were not enough patients testing positive for anti- luteal antibodies among those with HT or both HT and SLE ( three from each group) for a statistical analysis. In conclusion, we found no association between anti- CoL and menstrual or hormonal disturbance in patients with SLE. Also anti- CoL was not specific for SLE, and was not found to be a marker of ovarian failure in SLE.