title: Effect of fasting during the month of Ramadan on serum levels of luteinizing hormone and testosterone in people living in the below sea level environment in the Jordan Valley.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study a possible effect of Ramadan fasting on luteinizing hormone and testosterone in people of the Jordan Valley.
  
  
  METHODS
  A comparative study (n=40) of serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone (T) between people living in the Jordan Valley (JV), n=20, 360 meters below sea level, and those living in Ramtha City (RC), n=20, 600 meters above sea level, was conducted in December, 1998. A similar study (n=40) was also done during January 1999 in fasting people during the month of Ramadan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum levels of LH in non-fasting people of the JV were statistically similar to those in people of RC. There was also no difference in serum levels of T between non-fasting people of the JV and those in RC. Serum levels of LH in fasting people of the JV were statistically indifferent from those fasting in RC. Serum T levels in fasting people of the JV, on the other hand, were higher than those in fasting people of RC (76+/-18.3 ng/ml compared to 62.7+/-24.2 ng/ml).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is probably the environmental factors such as the higher barometric pressure of the JV compared to that at above sea level that play a role in higher serum levels of T in people of the JV. Other factors, such as genetic background and/or the cultural and nutritional characteristics of the people of the JV, may also contribute to this difference in serum T levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan. mig@just.edu.jo
authors.forename: Fayig
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: El-Migdadi
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shotar
authors.forename: Zeyad
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: El-Akawi
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Banihani
authors.forename: Rola
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abudheese
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000531:Altitude; D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D005215:Fasting / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007597:Jordan; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D012067:Religion; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone