Background: The menstrual cycle is the cycle of natural variations that occurs in the uterus and ovary as an essential part of making sexual reproduction possible. It is characterized by hormonal changes but the changes that occur in some active phase reactants (APR) parameters have not been fully elucidated.
Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the serum albumin, ESR, and C-reactive protein levels in follicular and luteal phases of menstruation.
Methods: A total of 90 healthy regularly menstruating women where used for this study. Forty-five of the study participants were in their follicular phase while the other 45 where in their luteal phase. Four milliliters of blood were withdrawn from each patient under aseptic condition and two milliliters was dispensed into EDTA container while the other two milliliters were dispensed into a plane container. The EDTA anticoagulated blood was used for ESR and full blood count while the serum from the plain tubes was used for analysis of C-reactive protein and Serum Albumin. Sysmex K-3 auto-analyser (Sysmex, Kobe Japan) was used for te determination of full blood count, the Westergren method was used for ESR estimation, Bromo Cresyl Green method was used for serum albumin and ELISA method was used for CRP determination. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 23.
Results: This study showed a statistically significant difference in the ESR (p= 0.03) among menstruating women in the follicular and luteal phases of menstruation. Sociodemographic factors had no statistically significant effect on the APR parameters of menstruating women in the follicular and luteal phases of menstruation (p> 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between acute phase proteins of menstruating women in the follicular phase and luteal phases (p> 0.05). Also, age and marital status did not affect the acute phase proteins among menstruating women in the follicular phase and luteal phases (p> 0.05).
Conclusions: There is need to generate data on menstrual disorders and their impact on women's health status, quality of life and social integration. It is vital that evaluation and treatment of menstrual complaints should be given a higher priority in primary care programs. There is need to invest in public enlightenment program to increase awareness in secondary schools to increase the level of awareness among adolescents as well as young females.
Keywords: Menstrual cycle; Nigeria; Sokoto; Usmanu Danfodiyo University; acute phase reactants; students.