Serum steroids in normal males and patients with prostatic diseases

The subjects investigated comprised 57 normal males between 30 and 80 years of age; 40 patients between 50 and 80 years of age suffering from benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), and 11 untreated prostatic carcinoma (Ca) patients aged between 57 and 79 years. Serum concentrations of oestradiol, pregnenolone, progesterone, 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone and androsterone were determined from a single serum sample (1.6 ml). Oestradiol was determined by an automated non-chromatographic radioimmunoassay, while other steroids were determined by radioimmunoassays, after solvent extraction and chromatographic purification on Lipidex-5000TM microcolumns. When patient groups were compared with the 25 normal males between 50 and 80 years of age, several conclusions could be drawn. Serum concentrations of 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (P less than 0.01) and 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone (P less than 0.001) were both significantly higher in the BPH patients when compared with the normal males. This trend was also apparent in the serum concentrations of progesterone and testosterone in the older BPH patients. Although the mean concentrations of 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone and 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone were slightly higher in carcinoma patients than normal males, these differences were not statistically significant. No differences were seen in the concentrations of pregnenolone, androstenedione, androsterone and oestradiol between normal subjects and patients with BPH or prostatic Ca.