Evaluation of basal hormone levels in hirsute women

Serum concentrations of 10 hormones in 162 hirsute women were examined. Mean testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and DHEA sulfate (DHEA-S) concentrations in these patients were 0.7 ng/ml, 10.0 ng/ml and 3.3 micrograms/ml, respectively; testosterone was elevated in 60.4% of the patients, DHEA was in 52.2% and DHEA-S was in 53.2%. Significant correlations were revealed among all these androgens. In the women who had normal testosterone levels DHEA was elevated in 50.0% and DHEA-S was in 22.2%. Cortisol levels did not show any significant correlation with the androgens examined in this study. Progesterone had a negative correlation with testosterone. Elevations of basal luteinizing hormone (LH) (greater than 20 mIU/ml) were seen in 21.7% of the patients. Stimulation tests using 25 micrograms luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) revealed enormous increase of LH (greater than 100 mIU/ml) in 18.7% of the women. Serum prolactin (PRL) was elevated in 38.3% of the patients; a bolus injection of metoclopramide (MCP) induced hypersecretion of PRL (greater than 160 ng/ml) in 48.0% of the women. These results indicate that the estimations of basal and LHRH- or MCP-induced hormone concentrations in hirsute women give useful clinical information for the understanding of their pathogenesis. More attention should be paid to basal hormone levels before suppression or stimulation tests of adrenal glands and ovary are performed.