Premium
Undetectable salivary testosterone in young women with premature ovarian failure
Author(s) -
Mason A.,
Wallace A. M.,
MacIntyre H.,
Teoh Y. P.,
Bath L. E.,
Critchley H. O.,
Kelnar C. J. H.,
Wallace W. H. B.,
Ahmed S. F.
Publication year - 2006
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.1365-2265.2006.02537.x
Subject(s) - medicine , endocrinology , premature ovarian failure , testosterone (patch)
Summary Background The extent of androgen deficiency in young women with premature ovarian failure (POF) is unclear. Aim Cross‐sectional study of androgen status in young women with POF. Patients Twenty women with POF: six had Turner syndrome (group A); eight had iatrogenic POF either secondary to bilateral oophorectomy or treatment of malignancy (group B); and six had idiopathic POF (group C). The median age was 30·5 years (range 19–39); in groups B and C the median duration of ovarian failure was 10·0 years (range 1–35). Methods After a 2‐month wash‐out period without sex steroid replacement (SSR), serum testosterone (T), androstenedione (A4), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEAS), SHBG, salivary testosterone (SalT) and the free androgen index [FAI = (serum T/SHBG) × 100] were measured. Results Median serum A4 was 4·6 nmol/l (10th, 90th centiles, 3·6, 5·1) and DHEAS was 3·2 µmol/l (10th, 90th centiles, 2·3, 9·3). Although median serum T was relatively low at 1·4 nmol/l (10th, 90th centiles, 1·1, 1·7), median SHBG was also low at 34 nmol/l (10th, 90th centiles 22·2, 67·5) and the median calculated FAI was within the normal range at 3·7 (10th, 90th centiles, 2·3, 7·0). However, SalT was undetectable in almost all subjects in the three groups of POF. Conclusions Serum T and SHBG are relatively low in young women with POF and their FAI is therefore within the normal range. However, SalT, which measures free testosterone, is consistently low to undetectable in these young women with POF. The reliability of the FAI as a marker of androgen deficiency remains questionable.