Experience with 19-nortestosterone in the therapy of systemic lupus erythematosus: worsened disease after treatment with 19-nortestosterone in men and lack of improvement in women

Three men and 4 women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) received 100 mg of 19-nortestosterone decanoate in weekly intramuscular injections over a period of 3 to 24 months. During therapy in the men plasma luteotrophic hormone and free testosterone levels decreased while estrogen levels increased. Anti-DNA antibodies also increased for unknown reasons. Serological changes in two men coincided with an overall increase in the clinical activity of SLE and the appearance of new onset Raynaud's phenomenon and pleuropericardial disease. In contrast, women treated with 19-nortestosterone showed clinical stability despite the persistence of high titer antibodies to DNA, and were able to continue therapy for as long as 16 months in one case. These data indicate that men and women with SLE respond differently to synthetic androgen therapy. Additionally, dissociation of clinical signs and symptoms from serological variables seems possible.