Background: The objective of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that maternal androgen levels associate with nausea and vomiting in otherwise uncomplicated pregnancies.
Methods: One hundred and twenty-nine women with uncomplicated pregnancies, reported nausea and vomiting in weeks 17, 25, 33, 37, and when admitted for delivery. Maternal levels of androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), testosterone, and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) were measured and the free testosterone index calculated in weeks 17 and 33 of pregnancy.
Results: Maternal levels of androstenedione and DHEAS associated positively with nausea and vomiting in week 17. In week 33, testosterone and DHEAS associated positively with nausea and vomiting, as well as androstenedione. A calculated emesis score associated positively with increasing average levels of both androstenedione and testosterone during pregnancy, as well as the free testosterone index.
Conclusions: Nausea and vomiting associate with increasing maternal androgen levels during otherwise uncomplicated pregnancies. Whether androgens are causally related to emesis gravidarum remains unknown.