2022 · International journal of environmental research and public health · open access
Anti-Müllerian Hormone Levels among Female Firefighters
Davidson et al.
The finding, in our words
Female firefighters had lower anti-Müllerian hormone levels than matched non-firefighters, suggesting occupational exposures may affect ovarian reserve; this supports the feasibility of using dried blood spots for hormone measurement outside traditional labs.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
In a study of 46 perinatal nicotine users, dried blood spots and saliva were used weekly to measure reproductive hormones, finding that lower postpartum estradiol and greater peripartum declines in oxytocin were associated with increased nicotine craving and use. This demonstrates the feasibility of decentralised microsampling and remote surveys for longitudinal hormone tracking in vulnerable populations.
Home DBS sampling gave testosterone results that agreed well with venous blood in men on intramuscular testosterone undecanoate, but showed falsely high values in those using topical gel, likely from skin contamination. Patients preferred home collection for its convenience, suggesting DBS is viable for decentralised monitoring of injectable testosterone if patients are taught proper technique.
Capillary dried blood spots yielded reference ranges for testosterone, androstenedione, 17α hydroxyprogesterone and progesterone in healthy premenopausal women, with lower concentrations in users of systemic hormonal contraceptives and cycle-related variation for 17OHP and P4. These ranges enable screening for disorders of sex development using less invasive microsampling.
A study of 152 women found that HbA1c and reproductive hormone levels from menstrual blood collected via a modified pad highly correlated with venous blood, supporting its use as a decentralised surrogate, though interassay variability was noted.
A four-item questionnaire for menstrual phase identification, validated against progesterone in dried blood spots, achieved 92.1 per cent accuracy with less restrictive scoring, substantially better than self-reported onset of menses alone (60.2 per cent). This tool could enable accurate phase determination in decentralised research and low-resource settings without intensive clinical assessment.