IDIM   12530
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES MEDICAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Salivary testosterone: a reliable approach to the diagnosis of male hypogonadism
Autor/es:
ARREGGER AL, CONTRERAS LN, TUMILASCI OR, AQUILANO DR, CARDOSO EML.
Revista:
CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY
Editorial:
Blackwell Publishing
Referencias:
Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2006
ISSN:
0300-0664
Resumen:
Summary
Objetive
The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that Sal-T is a reliable biomarker of androgen status in the diagnosis of male hypogonadism.
Design
In order to validate the salivary testosterone assay (Sal-T), its reproducibility , the agreement with serum free testosterone levels (Free-T) , the correlation with other circulating androgen markers ( bioavailable testosterone , total testosterone) and cut off values were defined.
Patients and Methods
We studied 52 eugonadic (E) and 20 hypogonadic (Hy) men. Sal-T was assayed using an adapted radioimmunoassay for serum testosterone. Sal-T concentrations were compared in 9 cases before and after citric acid stimulation of salivary flow-rate. Free-T and bioavailable testosterone (Bio-T) were calculated by Vermeulen equation and SHBG were determined by binding assay.
Results
Sal-T did not depend on salivary flow-rate and morning samples from 7.00 to 9.00 h were stable. Agreement between Sal-T and Free-T measurements was confirmed in all subjects . Sal-T levels correlated positively with all circulating androgens , showing the best correlation with Free-T in E (r=0.92) as well as in Hy (r=0.97).A cutoff value for Sal-T £ 0.195 nM showed 100% of sensibility and specificity to rule out hypogonadism.
Conclusions Our data showed that Sal-T is a reliable marker of testosterone bioavailability. The results support the inclusion of this biomarker as a non invasive approach in the diagnosis of male androgen deficiency.