title: 17-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, and testosterone in normal children and in prepubertal patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
abstract: To determine maximal plasma levels of androstenedione (A) and testosterone (T) which still can be considered non virilizing in 21-hydroxylase deficiency, we investigated plasma levels of these steroids in unaffected children and in adults. For T we found an upper limit of the prepubertal normal range of 16 ng/dl in girls and of 20 ng/dl in boys, with the exception of boys in the first half-year of life in which T is elevated up to the low adult range with peak values in the 2nd and 3rd month. During puberty T values show a significant difference between pubic hair stage 1 and stage 2. T levels below 20 ng/dl can be considered to be non virilizing. For A we found a plasma concentration of 86 ng/dl to be the upper normal level in both sexes before the onset of puberty. A values below this limit are expected to be non virilizing. To evaluate the usefulness of 17-hydroxyprogesterone (OHP) for the prediction of A and T and to define "acceptable" OHP levels in CAH we performed simultaneous determinations of OHP, T, and A in prepubertal patients treated for CAH. From these values we calculated the 95% confidence interval for prediction of T and A on known OHP levels. On an OHP value of 1.000 ng/dl, T can be expected to be between 6 and 60 ng/dl and A between 25 and 320 ng/dl. Because of these wide ranges, OHP has to be considered an unreliable parameter for predicting androgen levels in CAH.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000312:Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital / Q000097:blood*; D000367:Age Factors; D000735:Androstenedione / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006908:Hydroxyprogesterones / Q000097:blood*; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D006908:Hydroxyprogesterones; D013739:Testosterone; D000735:Androstenedione