title: Androgen status in adolescent women with acne vulgaris.
abstract: Androgens are essential for the development of acne. The object of this study was to elucidate the androgen status of women with adolescent (Tanner's stage IV-V) acne alone and compare them to age-matched normal controls. We measured serum levels of total testosterone (T), free testosterone (FT), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) in 15 women with adolescent acne and 13 age-matched healthy controls. No significant differences were found between the mean levels of T, FT or DHT levels in patients and controls. However, the mean levels of DHEA-S in the patient population (1886 +/- 829 ng/ml) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than normal controls (1287 +/- 620 ng/ml). There was also no correlation between androgen levels and acne severity. Thus it is unlikely that serum androgens play a principal role in women with adolescent acne.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aizawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakada
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niimura
mesh_terms: D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000097:blood*; D000293:Adolescent; D000728:Androgens / Q000097:blood*; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000097:blood; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone; D013739:Testosterone; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone