Prospective study of serum androgen levels stratified by increased or normal serum follicle-stimulating hormone in infertile women with regular menses.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate serum androgen levels in infertile perimenopausal women who were still euestrogenic and had regular menses.


METHODS
We compared 48 women who had early follicular serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels of =10 mIU/mL (group 1) with 50 women who had early follicular serum FSH levels of >15 mIU/mL (group 2).


RESULTS
No differences were detected between groups 1 and 2 in early follicular mean levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) (157 versus 167 mg/dL). Mean serum testosterone, free testosterone, and androstenedione levels, however, were significantly lower in the group with higher FSH levels (group 2) than in group 1 (27.6 versus 35.8 ng/dL, 1.3 versus 2.1 pg/mL, and 130 versus 164 ng/dL, respectively; P<0.05). No differences were detected between groups 1 and 2 in the frequency of increased DHEAS, testosterone, free testosterone, or androstenedione levels as well as the frequency of low serum DHEAS levels. The group with FSH levels of >15 mIU/mL, however, had a significantly greater frequency of patients with low levels of testosterone, free testosterone, and androstenedione than did the group with lower FSH levels: 54% versus 33%; 26% versus 10%; and 26% versus 10%, respectively (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
We found no evidence that infertility problems in perimenopausal women are complicated by increasing androgen levels. The mechanism for lower androgen levels is not apparent.
Check
J H
JH
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden, Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Reproductive, Endocrinology & Infertility, Camden, USA.
Peymer
M
M