On the correlation of androgens of the testes and adrenal glands with hypogonadism

Abstract

Examinations of 14 healthy males, including measurements of the main adrenal and testicular androgens and their precursors, estradiol, and pituitary gonadotropic hormones in the peripheral blood, revealed that the levels of the main adrenal and testicular androgens do not correlate. Assessment of the hormonal status of 24 patients with hypogonadism showed that a deficit in the production of testicular androgens is not compensated for by hyperproduction of adrenal androgens. Testosterone production in patients with acquired anorchism, who were never administered substitute androgen therapy, is about 1/12 of this hormone’s production in health. Hence, the secretion of testicular and adrenal androgens is regulated by different mechanisms.