December 8, 2006

No Racial Or Ethnic Differences Found In Serum Androgen Levels
(Reuters Health)

Researchers report finding no differences in serum androgen levels in a community-based study of white, black and Hispanic men. "Normative ranges," they say, "need not be adjusted by race/ethnicity for androgen deficiency diagnosis."

Prostate cancer risk varies by race, as does bone loss and body mass composition, the Boston-based team notes in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. They conducted a survey to assess whether serum androgen levels or metabolites of testosterone account for the racial difference.

The survey included 1,899 men between the ages of 30 and 79 years, of whom 538 were black, 651 were Hispanic and 710 men were white.

Heather J. Litman of the New England Research Institutes and colleagues at Boston University interviewed the subjects about their medical histories, conducted a cursory medical examination and measured serum testosterone, bioavailable testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEAS) and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels.

The investigators report that there were no significant differences in testosterone concentration, its metabolite DHEAS or bioavailable testosterone between the races. There was some variability among the races in DHT and DHT to testosterone ratio, being higher in black men compared to Hispanics or whites.

Litman and colleagues say the results show that the normal ranges for total and for bioavailable testosterone concentrations need not be adjusted by race. However, the significance of the higher levels of DHT and DHT to testosterone ratios in blacks is unknown and needs further study.

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