TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence of hyperandrogenemia among nonhirsute oligo-ovulatory women
AU - Allen, Stephen E.
AU - Potter, H. Downing
AU - Azziz, Ricardo
N1 - Funding Information:
Androgen excess in women has been associated with the development of hirsutism, acne, oligo-ovulatory ovulation, and infertility. In fact, hirsutism has been considered to be the most sensitive marker of increased androgen production (1). Nonetheless, hirsutism is only a reflection of androgen excess, and Received July 15, 1996; revised and accepted April 23, 1996. * Supported in part by grant RO1-HD29364 from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (to R.A.). t Presented in part at the 50th Annual Meeting of The American Fertility Society (now American Society for Reproductive Medicine), San Antonio, Texas, November 5 to 10, 1994.
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - Objective: To test the hypothesis that oligo-ovulatory ovulation is associated with hyperandrogenemia in the absence of other clinical signs of androgen excess. Design: Retrospective cohort controlled. Setting: Tertiary care university-based outpatient clinic. Patient(s): Thirty-two consecutive nonhirsute oligo-ovulatory women and 37 healthy eumenorrheic controls. Intervention(s): All study subjects underwent a physical exam and blood sampling in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Main Outcome Measure(s): Serum was assayed for total T, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), androstenedione (A), and DS, and the free T level was calculated. Result(s): Mean free T was higher and SHBG was lower in oligo-ovulatory patients compared with controls. The oligo-ovulatory patients were subdivided according to severity of menstrual abnormalities into those with cycles < 45 days (n = 19, oligo-ovulatory-short) and ≤45 days (n = 13, oligo-ovulatory- long). Oligo-ovulatory-long and -short patients had similar mean DS, A, and total T levels; but mean free T was higher and SHBG was lower in oligo- ovulatory-long patients compared with either oligo-ovulatory-short women or controls. Five of 13 (38%) oligo-ovulatory-long patients had at least one abnormal androgen value compared with 1 of 19 (5%) oligo-ovulatory-short patients, which was a significant difference. Conclusion(s): Approximately 40% of nonhirsute oligo-ovulatory women with cycle intervals ≤ 45 days demonstrate at least one abnormally elevated androgen level, suggesting that they may have a discrete form of the polycystic ovary syndrome. Furthermore, this data brings into question the sensitivity of hirsutism as a marker for hyperandrogenemia.
AB - Objective: To test the hypothesis that oligo-ovulatory ovulation is associated with hyperandrogenemia in the absence of other clinical signs of androgen excess. Design: Retrospective cohort controlled. Setting: Tertiary care university-based outpatient clinic. Patient(s): Thirty-two consecutive nonhirsute oligo-ovulatory women and 37 healthy eumenorrheic controls. Intervention(s): All study subjects underwent a physical exam and blood sampling in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Main Outcome Measure(s): Serum was assayed for total T, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), androstenedione (A), and DS, and the free T level was calculated. Result(s): Mean free T was higher and SHBG was lower in oligo-ovulatory patients compared with controls. The oligo-ovulatory patients were subdivided according to severity of menstrual abnormalities into those with cycles < 45 days (n = 19, oligo-ovulatory-short) and ≤45 days (n = 13, oligo-ovulatory- long). Oligo-ovulatory-long and -short patients had similar mean DS, A, and total T levels; but mean free T was higher and SHBG was lower in oligo- ovulatory-long patients compared with either oligo-ovulatory-short women or controls. Five of 13 (38%) oligo-ovulatory-long patients had at least one abnormal androgen value compared with 1 of 19 (5%) oligo-ovulatory-short patients, which was a significant difference. Conclusion(s): Approximately 40% of nonhirsute oligo-ovulatory women with cycle intervals ≤ 45 days demonstrate at least one abnormally elevated androgen level, suggesting that they may have a discrete form of the polycystic ovary syndrome. Furthermore, this data brings into question the sensitivity of hirsutism as a marker for hyperandrogenemia.
KW - Androgens
KW - hirsutism
KW - ovulatory dysfunction
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U2 - 10.1016/S0015-0282(97)80089-1
DO - 10.1016/S0015-0282(97)80089-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 9091350
AN - SCOPUS:0031026732
SN - 0015-0282
VL - 67
SP - 569
EP - 572
JO - Fertility and sterility
JF - Fertility and sterility
IS - 3
ER -