[Effects of sex steroids on the lipoprotein profile]

Plasma testosterone levels were measured pre- and postoperatively as well as during estrogen substitution in a 47-year-old woman with excessive hyperandrogenaemia due to a Leydig-cell tumour of the left ovary. In addition, the lipoprotein profile was determined before and 14 days after removal of the tumour and four weeks later during estrogen substitution. The preoperative plasma testosterone level was between 6.25 and 8.50 ng/ml; at the same time there was a hypercholesterolaemia with increased beta-lipoprotein and decreased alpha-lipoprotein fractions: the ratio of beta- to alpha-lipoprotein cholesterol was 3.0, a type IIa hyperlipoproteinaemia. After the testosterone concentration had returned to normal both the beta- and pre-beta cholesterol fell significantly, while the alpha-lipoprotein fraction remained unaltered. The alpha-cholesterol fraction increased significantly after estrogen substitution, the beta- to alpha-lipoprotein ratio being 1.20. It is concluded from these results that hyperandrogenaemia goes together with raised peripheral beta and pre-beta-cholesterol concentration, while estrogens cause a rise in the alpha-fraction.