Longitudinal Course of Sex Steroids From Pregnancy to Postpartum.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Systematic review of observational/cohort studies
PubMed 37450580 · doi:10.1210/endocr/bqad108
What was done
A systematic review was conducted per PRISMA guidelines across PubMed, Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO, supplemented by manual reference searches. Observational studies in English evaluating estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone longitudinally from pregnancy through postpartum in physically healthy females were included. Data were synthesized descriptively and visually.
What was found
Sex steroids progressively increased during pregnancy, particularly in the third trimester. However, reported concentrations varied up to 5000-fold at comparable time points across studies. The abstract does not provide absolute numeric values or pooled effect estimates.
Why it matters
Substantial measurement heterogeneity and the absence of standardized reference values currently prevent researchers and clinicians from defining normal trajectories or identifying pathological deviations in maternal and fetal health.
Limits
The total number of included studies and participant sample size are not reported in the abstract. Synthesis is limited to observational, correlational data where causality cannot be determined, compounded by extreme variability across assays or study designs.
Cited by
- supports During pregnancy, maternal estrogen levels increase by approximately 100 times normal baseline levels.