The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of sex hormones on F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) uptake by normal ovaries.
A total of 197 premenopausal women were included in this study. Based on 18F-FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) images obtained from these subjects, the association of ovarian 18F-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 18F-FDG uptake.
The highest ovarian 18F-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 18F-FDG uptake was observed during the first week of the menstrual cycle (median SUVmax = 1.60, median SUVmean = 1.20). Ovarian 18F-FDG uptake was weakly positively correlated with progesterone levels (
Based on PET images, ovarian glucose metabolism in premenopausal women tended to increase slightly with increasing progesterone concentration.