17β‐Oestradiol Concentration in Spermatic Venous Blood with Increasing Age

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Abstract
Androstenedione, testosterone and 17β‐oestradiol were measured in spermatic venous blood of 25 subjects (age range 20–70).Blood samples were taken during surgical intervention for hernia repair. While androstenedione and testosterone decreased significantly in spermatic venous blood with advancing age, 17β‐oestradiol was unchanged in the same subjects.These results seem to demonstrate that in senescence the increase of 17β‐oestradiol in systemic blood is not due to an increased secretion of this steroid by the human testis, but that it may be due to an increased peripheral conversion of the aromatizable androgens and to a reduction of the metabolic clearance rate of 17β‐oestradiol.