title: Prospective study of serum androgen levels stratified by increased or normal serum follicle-stimulating hormone in infertile women with regular menses.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Check
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peymer