title: Testosterone and delta 4-androstenedione in the saliva of patients with Klinefelter's syndrome.
abstract: This study compares salivary and total plasma levels of testosterone and androstenedione in healthy controls and chromatin positive patients with Klinefelter's syndrome. The mean plasma testosterone level in fifteen Klinefelter patients was significantly lower than in ten control subjects, but the mean androstenedione levels were similar. Saliva of the normal men and patients with Klinefelter's syndrome did not differ significantly in binding potency for testosterone or androstenedione. The mean salivary testosterone level in the Klinefelter patients was significantly lower than in the controls but again salivary androstenedione levels were similar. Although testosterone as well as androstenedione showed a fair correlation between the salivary and plasma concentrations, preliminary data suggested that salivary testosterone levels better characterize the clinical state of androgenicity than do plasma levels. When salivary testosterone and androstenedione were expressed as a percentage of total steroid levels in plasma, the ratios for both steroids were similar in Klinefelter patients and healthy controls and closely approximated to the reported percentages of free steroid levels in plasma. The absolute salivary testosterone concentrations also were almost identical to the reported free plasma hormone levels. Together the data provide indirect evidence that in Klinefelter patients testosterone and androstenedione binding in plasma and saliva does not differ from that in normal men, and measurement of salivary steroids, by reflecting their free hormone concentration in plasma, may be useful in evaluating endocrine function in both health and disease.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000735:Androstenedione / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007713:Klinefelter Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012463:Saliva / Q000032:analysis*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D000735:Androstenedione