title: Is there an association between serum prostate-specific antigen values and serum testosterone levels in healthy men?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the relationship between levels of total testosterone and total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in healthy men with PSA<4 ng/mL.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study comprised 179 men with a mean age of 59.19±12 years who visited Osmaniye State Hospital, Osmaniye, Turkey, between January 2006 and January 2007 for a routine checkup. The patients were divided into two subgroups: patients with PSA<2.5 mg/ml (group I, n=160 patients) and patients with PSA of 2.5 to 4 ng/mL (group II, n=19 patients). The relationship between PSA and testosterone levels was investigated in both groups and in patients aged <60 years. The mean testosterone level was calculated for patients aged <50 years and was compared with the mean value of patients aged ≥50 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all patients, the mean values for serum PSA and total testosterone were 1.27±0.88 ng/mL and 404.04±158.86 ng/mL, respectively. No correlation was detected between serum PSA and testosterone levels in either subgroup (group I, r=0.072, p=0.363; group II, r=0.031, p=0.900) or in patients aged <60 years (r=0.032, p=0.72). The mean values of testosterone in patients aged ≥50 years and in patients aged <50 years were 417.01±163.35 and 344.16±120.21 ng/dL, respectively (p=0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No impact of testosterone was found on the PSA level in healthy men with PSA <4 ng/mL. Therefore, a high serum testosterone level may not mandate adjustment of PSA values. This serum sex hormone showed a significant increment after the age of 50 years. Further studies including a larger number of patients should be carried out to confirm these findings.
authors.affiliation: Urology Department, School of Medicine and Health Science, An-Najah University, Nablus, West-Bank, Palestine.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mustafa
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Kartal Teaching Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Rahim
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Horuz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Osmaniye state Hospital, Osmaniye, Turkey.
authors.forename: Metin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Celik
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Osmaniye state Hospital, Osmaniye, Turkey.
authors.forename: Akif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kucukcan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007610:Kallikreins / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D012016:Reference Values; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D013739:Testosterone; C549870:KLK3 protein, human; D007610:Kallikreins; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen
keywords: Prostate; Prostate neoplasms; Prostate-specific antigen; Testosterone