title: Age-specific reference ranges for serum testosterone and androstenedione concentrations in women measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  RIA-based sex hormone measurements offer only limited precision and specificity in the low concentration range of women. Therefore, we aimed to establish age-specific reference ranges for serum sex hormone concentrations in women using mass spectrometry and quantile regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data from 985 women aged 20-80 yr, recruited for the prospective Study of Health in Pomerania, were included in the analyses. Quantile regressions models were performed to calculate the age-specific 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles for sex hormone concentrations in women. Serum total testosterone (TT) and androstenedione (AD) concentrations were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Measured concentrations of SHBG and TT were used to calculate free testosterone (free T). TT, AD, and free T concentrations showed a distinct age-related decline across 10-yr age groups (one way ANOVA P < 0.001). Sex hormone reference ranges for TT, AD, and free T were determined across each single year of age and for 10-yr age groups. Reference ranges over the whole age range of 20-80 yr were 0.35-1.97 nmol/liter for TT, 0.89-4.56 nmol/liter for AD, and 0.0025-0.0253 nmol/liter for free T. Separate reference ranges were provided for pre- and postmenopausal women as well as after inclusion of women using oral contraceptives or hormone therapy (n = 1357).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to establish age-specific reference ranges for liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-measured TT and AD and calculated free T concentrations based on quantile regression analyses, accurately accounting for the observed low concentration range and the strong age dependency of these sex hormones in women.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University of Greifswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Strasse, D-17475 Greifswald, Germany. robin.haring@uni-greifswald.de
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haring
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hannemann
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: John
authors.forename: Dörte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Radke
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nauck
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wallaschofski
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Adaway
authors.forename: Brian G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Keevil
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brabant
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000735:Androstenedione / Q000097:blood* / Q000592:standards; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D003940:Diagnostic Techniques, Endocrine / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood* / Q000592:standards; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D000735:Androstenedione