Contribution of dihydrotestosterone to male sexual behaviour
Mantzoros, C.S.; Georgiadis, E.I.; Trichopoulos, D.
BMJ 310(6990): 1289-1291
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0959-8138 PMID: 7773040 Document Number: 446830
Objective: To document the relative importance of endogenous sex steroids in modulating the frequency of orgasms, the dominant aspect of sexual behaviour in healthy eugonadal men. Design: Measurement of adrenal and testicular sex steroids in a sample of army recruits and study of their relation to frequency of orgasms ascertained by questionnaire after potential confounding variables were controlled for. Setting: Military campus and military hospital laboratories in Athens, Greece. Subjects: 92 consecutively enrolled healthy male recruits aged 18-22 years. Main outcome measures: Weekly number of orgasms. Serum concentrations of testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, dihydrotestosterone, oestradiol, oestrone, DELTA-4-androstenedione, and sex hormone binding globulin. Results: Serum dihydrotestosterone concentration was the only independent hormonal predictor of the frequency of orgasms; an increase in concentration of 1.36 nmol/l (about 2 SD) corresponded to an average increase of one orgasm a week. Conclusions: Differences in concentrations of circulating dihydrotestosterone within the normal range may represent a major predictor of sexual activity in healthy young men.