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17-Hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, and testosterone in normal children and in prepubertal patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia

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Abstract

To determine maximal plasma levels of androstenedione (A) and testosterone (T) which still can be considered non virilizing in 21-hydroxylase deficiency, we investigated plasma levels of these steroids in unaffected children and in adults. For T we found an upper limit of the prepubertal normal range of 16 ng/dl in girls and of 20 ng/dl in boys, with the exception of boys in the first half-year of life in which T is elevated up to the low adult range with peak values in the 2nd and 3rd month. During puberty T values show a significant difference between pubic hair stage 1 and stage 2. T levels below 20 ng/dl can be considered to be non virilizing. For A we found a plasma concentration of 86 ng/dl to be the upper normal level in both sexes before the onset of puberty. A values below this limit are expected to be non virilizing. To evaluate the usefulness of 17-hydroxyprogesterone (OHP) for the prediction of A and T and T and to define “acceptable” OHP levels in CAH we performed simultaneous determinations of OHP, T, and A in prepubertal patients treated for CAH. From these values we calculated the 95% confidence interval for prediction of T and A on known OHP levels. On an OHP value of 1.000 ng/dl, T can be excpected to be between 6 and 60 ng/dl and A between 25 and 320 ng/dl. Because of these wide ranges, OHP has to be considered an unreliable parameter for predicting androgen levels in CAH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Children's Hospital, University of Kiel, Federal Republic of Germany

    K. v. Schnakenburg

  2. Children's Hospital, University of München, Federal Republic of Germany

    F. Bidlingmaier & D. Knorr

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  1. K. v. Schnakenburg
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  2. F. Bidlingmaier
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  3. D. Knorr
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Dedicated to Prof. Dr. H.-R. Wiedemann on the occasion of his 65th birthday

Supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Schn. 145/5-6

Supported by Volkswagen-Stiftung

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Schnakenburg, K.v., Bidlingmaier, F. & Knorr, D. 17-Hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, and testosterone in normal children and in prepubertal patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Eur J Pediatr 133, 259–267 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00496086

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