Whole-blood assays
Fasting peripheral blood was taken between 0900 and 1100 hours
to control for alterations in hormone levels due to circadian
variations. Immediately following collection, clotted and heparinized
blood was delivered on ice to the pathology service at each
site. A hormone panel (consisting of follicle-stimulating hormone
and luteinizing hormone) and a coagulation panel, consisting of a
prothrombin time test, international normalized ratio and the
antithrombin III deficiency test, were assayed at baseline in patients
and controls and after 6 and 13 weeks of treatment in patients.
Blood measures were reviewed by two to three medical doctors for
changes in values that were outside the clinically normal range.