Is 3α-androstanediol a marker of peripheral hirsutism?
- 1 February 1982
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Acta Endocrinologica
- Vol. 99 (2) , 314-320
- https://doi.org/10.1530/acta.0.0990314
Abstract
The behavior of 5.alpha.-reduced metabolites of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, 3.alpha.-androstanediol and 3.beta.-androstanediol was studied in 36 hirsute women: Group 1: 24 patients with high plasma levels of testosterone, androstenedione and/or dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate; and Group II: 12 patients with normal plasma concentrations of these steroids. Testosterone and its 5.alpha.-reduced metabolites were determined by radioimmunoassay after chromatographic separation on celite 535 microcolumns. Plasma 3.alpha.-androstanediol was elevated both in Group I (26.9 .+-. 10.8 SD ng/100 ml) and in Group II patients (23.2 .+-. 10.5 SD ng/100 ml). 3.beta.-Androstanediol and dihydrotestosterone were elevated in only a few cases: in 6 cases in Group I and in 2 and in 1 case, respectively, in Group II. The finding of high plasma 3.alpha.-androstanediol levels in hirsute women, with normal values of the other androgens, may be an index of hirsutism of peripheral origin, since this steroid is produced almost exclusively in the extraglandular compartment.This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit:
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