Relationship Between Sex Hormones Levels and (18)F-FDG Uptake by the Ovaries in Premenopausal Woman

BACKGROUND: The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of sex hormones on F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) uptake by normal ovaries. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 197 premenopausal women were included in this study. Based on (18)F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) images obtained from these subjects, the association of ovarian (18)F-FDG uptake with levels of sex hormones, including estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone was investigated. We also analysed the relationship between the menstrual cycle and ovarian (18)F-FDG uptake. RESULTS: The highest ovarian (18)F-FDG uptake occurred at 2 weeks after the onset of menstruation (median maximum standardized uptake value [SUVmax] = 3.40, median mean SUV [SUVmean] = 2.20), and the lowest ovarian (18)F-FDG uptake was observed during the first week of the menstrual cycle (median SUVmax = 1.60, median SUVmean = 1.20). Ovarian (18)F-FDG uptake was weakly positively correlated with progesterone levels (rho = 0.28, p < 0.001 for SUVmax, rho = 0.30, p < 0.001 for SUVmean), and this pattern was consistently observed in subjects in the follicular-phase group (rho = 0.29, p = 0.003 for both SUVmax and SUVmean) but not in subjects in the luteal-phase group. CONCLUSIONS: Based on PET images, ovarian glucose metabolism in premenopausal women tended to increase slightly with increasing progesterone concentration.