https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(08)01392-7/pdf

The Androgen Excess and PCOS Society criteria for the polycystic ovary syndrome: the complete task force report

In men, high levels of endogenous testosterone (T) seem to encourage behavior intended to dominate - to enhance one's status over - other people. Sometimes dominant behavior is aggressive, its apparent intent being to inflict harm on another person, but often dominance is expressed nonaggressively. Sometimes dominant behavior takes the form of antisocial behavior, including rebellion against authority and law breaking. Measurement of T at a single point in time, presumably indicative of a man's basal T level, predicts many of these dominant or antisocial behaviors. T not only affects behavior but also responds to it. The act of competing for dominant status affects male T levels in two ways. First, T rises in the face of a challenge, as if it were an anticipatory response to impending competition. Second, after the competition, T rises in winners and declines in losers. Thus, there is a reciprocity between T and dominance behavior, each affecting the other. We contrast a reciprocal model, in which T level is variable, acting as both a cause and effect of behavior, with a basal model, in which T level is assumed to be a persistent trait that influences behavior. An unusual data set on Air Force veterans, in which data were collected four times over a decade, enables us to compare the basal and reciprocal models as explanations for the relationship between T and divorce. We discuss sociological implications of these models.

https://users.ox.ac.uk/~kgroup/publications/pdf/kacelnik_norris_1998_bbs_testosterone.pdf

Testosterone and dominance in men.

An extensive literature dealing with studies on the pathophysiology of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCO) has accumulated over the years. The great clinical and biochemical variability of PCO, as indicated in several excellent reviews over a decade ago (Goldzieher & Axelrod, 1963; Mahesh & Greenblatt, 1964; Jeffcoate, 1963; Shearman & Cox, 1966), continues as a major problem in defining this syndrome. Further, the pathogenesis of this reversible disorder remains elusive. However, recent advances in our understanding of ovarian physiology, the pathways for androgen-oestrogen secretion and metabolism, and the integrated function of the hypothalamic-hypophyseal-ovarian axis permit a rational description of the pathophysiology of the PCO syndrome. Thus, current evidence regarding the basis for the dysfunction of ovarian steroidogenesis and follicular maturation, and the aberration of gonadotropin secretion as related to the inappropriate steroid feedback system will be reviewed. The long debated issue of the possible role of adrenal androgen in the genesis and persistence of PCO syndrome will also be considered.

Review article: the polycystic ovary syndrome

The demonstration that luteinizing hormone (LH) release from the pituitary is episodic rather than constant raises fundamental questions regarding the physiologic control of pulsatile LH secretion and its possible alteration in patients with gonadal disorders. To evaluate this mode of LH secretion, quantitative means of analyzing LH pulse amplitude, frequency, shape, and area were established and utilized to study normal subjects and patients with disorders of gonadotropin secretion. Similar patterns of LH secretion were observed in normal men, in women during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, and in patients with hyper- and hypogonadotropism, hirsuitism, and amenorrhea (mean pulse amplitude 39-179% from nadir to peak, frequency 2.7-3.9 secretory spikes/6 h). These observations suggested that the pattern of LH secretion is similar in both normal individuals and in those with a variety of pathologic conditions. By contrast, the pattern of pulsatile secretion appeared to differ in the following conditions. LH pulses of higher amplitude (333+/-170%) and lower frequency (1.6+/-0.24 SEM/6 h) characterized the secretory patterns of women during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, suggesting that gonadal steroids may modulate LH pulses. LH pulses of low amplitude (26+/-2.1%) and frequency (1.3+/-0.36/6 h) were observed in women with anorexia nervosa. Either integrated LH levels or a mean LH level determined from multiple samples provided a more accurate reflection of gonadotropin secretion than the use of single LH measurements. With multiple sampling over 6 h, it was possible to reduce the 95% confidence limit of LH estimates from +/-50-90 to +/-12%. This allowed normal subjects to be distinguished from patients with low or moderately elevated LH levels in whom gonadotropin levels in single samples were often in the "normal range."Several aspects of the physiologic control of pulsatile LH secretion were studied. The concordance of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) with LH pulses progressively increased as LH pulse height increased (P < 0.01) suggesting possible hypothalamic mediation of gonadotropin pulses. Measurement of the "apparent half-life" of LH after secretory spikes revealed half times of 34-233 min. It is likely that this variability was attributable to at least two phenomena: (a) constant low level LH secretion that continued after certain secretory episodes but not others; (b) variable mixing of newly secreted LH into at least two pools. The alpha adrenergic-blocking agents, chlorpromazine and phentolamine, failed to block LH secretory spikes at doses sufficient to result in a 30 mm drop in systolic blood pressure in normal men.

/pdf/episodic-luteinizing-hormone-secretion-in-man-pulse-analysis-3fxxgyw0oz.pdf

Episodic Luteinizing Hormone Secretion in Man PULSE ANALYSIS, CLINICAL INTERPRETATION, PHYSIOLOGIC MECHANISMS

Background The symptoms of women with premenstrual syndrome improve in response to suppression of ovarian function, although these women have no evidence of ovarian dysfunction. We undertook a study to determine the role of estrogen and progesterone in this syndrome. Methods We first studied the effect of ovarian suppression with leuprolide, an agonist analogue of gonadotropin-releasing hormone, or placebo on symptoms in 20 women with premenstrual syndrome. Ten women whose symptoms improved during leuprolide treatment were given estradiol and progesterone in a double-blind, crossover design, each for four weeks, during continued leuprolide administration. Women without premenstrual syndrome (normal women) participated in a similar protocol. Outcomes were assessed on the basis of daily self-reports by the patients and biweekly rater-administered symptom-rating scales. Results The 10 women with premenstrual syndrome who were given leuprolide had a significant decrease in symptoms as compared with base-line ...

Differential behavioral effects of gonadal steroids in women with and in those without premenstrual syndrome.

Solid-phase radioimmunoassay of estradiol-17 beta

A radioimmunoassay for the measurement of plasma progesterone is described. The 21-hemisuccinate of 11-desoxycortisol was coupled to human serum albumin using carbodiimide, and the conjugate was used to immunize 2 ewes. The antiserum obtained after 8 months of immunization from one of the ewes was used in the assay procedure. Incubation at 4 C overnight of this diluted antiserum was carried out in the presence of 1,2-3H-17-hydroxyprogesterone. Separation of free from bound hormone was achieved by a dextran-coated charcoal suspension. One ml of plasma or serum, with tritiated progesterone added for recovery, was extracted with ether, then chromatographed on a microcolumn of Celite. Recovery of 3H-progesterone after extraction and chromatography was 84.2±4.8% (sd). The sensitivity varied between 10 and 25 pg of progesterone. Recovery experiments of progesterone added to water and plasma confirmed accuracy. Concentration of progesterone in plasma from men averaged 233±64 (sd) pg/ml and from postmeno...

Radioimmunoassay of plasma progesterone.

In order to assess the ovarian contribution to peripheral steroid levels during the menstrual cycle, the serum levels of various steroids were measured daily during a complete menstrual cycle in a bilaterally adrenalectomized woman. The following steroids were measured: progesterone (P), 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP), pregnenolone (5Δ-P), 17-hydroxypregnenolone (17-5Δ-P), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), it's sulfate (DHEA-S), testosterone (T), 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), androstenedione (A), estrone (E1), estradiol-17β (E2), and cortisol. Plasma cortisol and 17-5Δ-P were undetectable throughout most of the study period. However, the remaining steroids studied were measurable. The patterns and levels of the steroids observed in the adrenalectomized subject suggest the following when compared to patterns and levels of the same steroids during menstrual cycles of intact women. The progestins, P and 17-OHP, are secreted by the ovary not only during the luteal phase but also throughout the follicul...

Serum Steroid Levels During the Menstrual Cycle in a Bilaterally Adrenalectomized Woman

Plasma 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) was measured by radioimmunoassay, using an antibody preparation as specific binding reagent. One ml of plasma, with tritiated 17-OHP added for recovery estimation, was extracted with ether and chromatographed on a microcolumn of Celite. The interfering steroids in the 17-OHP fraction from the Celite column were removed by acetylation and rechromatography in the same system. The dried residue of the purified 17-OHP fraction was dissolved in assay buffer. Duplicate aliquots were run in the assay, in the presence of tritiated 17-OHP and diluted antiserum. Separation of free from bound hormone was achieved by dextran-coated charcoal suspension. Recovery of 3H-17-OHP ranged from 22 to 31%. The sensitivity in measuring unknown samples was 50 pg. The plasma levels of 17-OHP were measured in men and women. In 13 normal men, the 17-OHP ranged from 310 to 2170 pg/ml. In women, under various physiological conditions, the plasma levels of 17-OHP in pg/ml were: follicula...

Radioimmunoassay of plasma 17-hydroxyprogesterone.

Serial subtraction performances were measured before and after a 4-hr iv infusion of testosterone in 27 normal male subjects. Twenty-seven control subjects, individually matched with the testosterone infused subjects for initial serial subtraction performance ability, received control infusions. Testosterone was infused at a rate of 0.8 mg/hr. Plasma testosterone concentrations (PTC) and serum LH levels were measured at the beginning and end of the infusion in some subjects. The post-infusion task performances were poorer in both the testosterone and saline infused groups. However, the control group had a significantly greater decline in performance than the testosterone infused group (p<.05). The PTCs of the saline group declined 21%, probably reflecting the diurnal variation reported for PTC. Control subjects with the lowest post-infusion PTCs had significantly greater declines in performances than those with higher post-infusion PTCs (p<.02). In the subjects infused with testosterone the post-...

Guy E. Abraham

Papers

Solid-phase radioimmunoassay of estradiol-17 beta

Radioimmunoassay of plasma progesterone.

Serum Steroid Levels During the Menstrual Cycle in a Bilaterally Adrenalectomized Woman

Radioimmunoassay of plasma 17-hydroxyprogesterone.

Effects of infused testosterone on mental performances and serum LH.