SEX HORMONE CONCENTRATIONS IN POST‐MENOPAUSAL WOMEN RELATION TO OBESITY, FAT MASS, AGE AND YEARS POST‐MENOPAUSE

Abstract

Plasma sex hormone concentrations (testosterone, (T), androstenedione (A), oestrone (E1) and oestradiol (E2) were measured in forty post-menopausal women more than 4 years post-normal menopause. Correlations between these and age, years post-menopause (YPM), degree of obesity and fat mass respectively were studied. T and A, as well as E1 and E2 were positively correlated (P less than 0.01), but no statistically significant correlation between A and E1 was observed. Sex hormone concentrations in this group of postmenopausal women (greater than 4YPM) did not show any variation as a function of age, with the possible exception of E2 which showed a tendency to decrease in the late post-menopause. E1 and to a lesser extent E2 as well as the E1/A ratio were significantly corelated with degree of obesity or fat mass, suggesting a possible role of fat tissue in the aromatization of androgens. Neither the T/A nor the E2/E1 ratios were correlated with fat mass, suggesting that the reduction of 17 oxo-group does not occur in fat tissue. The E1/A ratio was significantly higher than the reported conversion rate of A in E1. This might suggest the existence of an additional precursor of plasma E1.