Production rates of dihydrotestosterone in healthy men and women and in men with male pattern baldness: determination by stable isotope/dilution and mass spectrometry.
Production rates of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) were determined in healthy men (n = 8), in healthy women during the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle (n = 7), and in young men with male pattern baldness (n = 8) using the stable isotope dilution technique and mass spectrometry. [2,3,4-(13)C]DHT was infused for 10 h at doses of 15 microg/h (men) and 2 microg/h (women), and blood samples were obtained at 20-min intervals during the last 4 h of the observation period. Production rates estimated between April and June were 2.9 +/- 1.1 microg/h (women) and 17.8 +/- 6.2 microg/h (men). In men production rates of DHT were similar (16.2 +/- 7.7 microg/h) when the investigation was repeated between October and December. Mean production rates of DHT in young men with male pattern baldness (60 +/- 50 microg/h) were higher than those in healthy men (P < 0.005). Although this group included two individuals with normal production rates of DHT, the production rate of DHT was markedly elevated (range, 32.0-161.0 microg/h) in the remaining patients. Stable isotope-labeled infusions of DHT are suitable for clinical use in a routine setting to obtain analytically correct estimates of DHT production in vivo. In the majority of men with male pattern baldness endogenous production of DHT is markedly increased, providing a rationale for therapeutic 5 alpha-reductase inhibition in this disorder.
Vierhapper
H
H
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine III, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. h.vierhapper@akh-wien.ac.at
Nowotny
P
P
Maier
H
H
Waldhäusl
W
W
D000328:Adult; D000505:Alopecia / Q000378:metabolism*; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007201:Indicator Dilution Techniques; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D012016:Reference Values; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin / Q000032:analysis; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood
D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin; D013196:Dihydrotestosterone; D013739:Testosterone