Male hypertestosteronemia
Kuhn, J.M.; Laudat, M.H.; Wolf, L.M.; Luton, J.P.
Presse Medicale 16(14): 675-679
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0755-4982 PMID: 2952995 Document Number: 3273
Male hypogonadism is characterized by a lowering of plasma testosterone level below the lower limit of physiological variations. Conversely, some adult males, apparently eugonadic, have a plasma testosterone level much higher than normally. In most cases, male hypertestosteronaemia - defined by a plasma testosterone level above 13 ng/ml and due to various physiopathological mechanisms - is part of a wider pathological context. It betrays hyperandrogenism (elevated free testosterone) during treatment with androgens or chorionic gonadotropic hormone. In other cases, it seems to underlie a relative hypoandrogenism with rise of testosterone bound to transport proteins and/or excess of oestrogens. Hypertestosteronaemia therefore appears as a biochemical sign not to be ignored, but it also suggests that men with abnormally high testosterone levels present with new pathology and that aetiological investigations are necessary.
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