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SEX HORMONE CONCENTRATIONS IN POST‐MENOPAUSAL WOMEN RELATION TO OBESITY, FAT MASS, AGE AND YEARS POST‐MENOPAUSE
Author(s) -
And A. VERMEULEN,
VERDONCK L.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
clinical endocrinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1365-2265
pISSN - 0300-0664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2265.1978.tb03572.x
Subject(s) - menopause , endocrinology , medicine , androstenedione , obesity , testosterone (patch) , sex hormone binding globulin , hormone , androgen
SUMMARY Plasma sex hormone concentrations (testosterone, (T), androstenedione (A), oestrone (El) and oestradiol (E2)) were measured in forty post‐menopausal women more than 4 years post‐normal menopause. Correlations between these and age, years post‐menopause (YPM), degree of obesity and fat mass respectively were studied. T and A, as well as El and E2 were positively correlated (P<0.0l), but no statistically significant correlation between A and El was observed. Sex hormone concentrations in this group of postmenopausal women (>4YPM) did not show any variation as a function of age, with the possible exception of E2 which showed a tendency to decrease in the late post‐menopause. El and to a lesser extent E2 as well as the El/A ratio were significantly correlated with degree of obesity or fat mass, suggesting a possible role of fat tissue in the aromatization of androgens. Neither the T/A nor the E2/E1 ratios were correlated with fat mass, suggesting that the reduction of 17 oxo‐group does not occur in fat tissue. The El/A ratio was significantly higher than the reported conversion rate of A in El. This might suggest the existence of an additional precursor of plasma El.