Androgen receptors in human prostatic tissues: a review

Methods for the measurements of androgen receptors in the human prostate have been reviewed. The differentiation of binding to receptor from binding to a contaminating serum protein, testosterone-estradiol binding globulin (TeBG), has been the major problem in the establishment of a reliable assay in man. Charcoal adsorption and Sephadex gel filtration (G-25) have been the simplest methods utilized, but unfortunately they do not eliminate binding to TeBG. Although other methods such as sucrose density gradient centrifugation, ion-exchange chromatography, and protamine precipitation are more specific for the measurement of the androgen receptor, they have not been uniformly reproducible and are too elaborate for easy clinical applicability. For clinical purposes, assays using potent synthetic androgens that do not bind to TeBG or anti-steroid antibodies may prove to be the methods utilized in the future to measure the androgen receptor content of human prostatic tissue.