Effects of Dihydrotestosterone and Prolactin on Lacrimal Gland Function

Abstract

Because both Sjögren’s and non-Sjögren’s lacrimal insufficiencies affect women much more frequently than men, it is reasonable to predict that there is a hormonal basis for both conditions, and attention turns to the estrogens as plausible candidates. However, the hormonal states during which women are most likely to experience lacrimal insufficiency are characterized by widely differing estrogen levels. Both Sjogren’s and non-Sjögren’s lacrimal insufficiencies are commonly regarded as afflictions of the postmenopausal state, which is characterized by dramatic decreases in ovarian estrogen production. However, women also tend to experience lacrimal insufficiency particularly frequently during estrogen-based oral contraceptive use, which is characterized by high estrogen levels; pregnancy, which is characterized by high estrogen and increasing prolactin levels; and lactation, which is characterized by low estrogen and high prolactin levels.