The existence of a male equivalent of the polycystic ovary syndrome--the present state of the issue.

The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in women belongs to the most frequent endocrinopathies. This syndrome is characteristic by a hormonal and metabolic imbalance. It seems to be a kind of an oligogenic disease resulting from the interaction among several key genes and environmental effects. Considering the genetic basis of this syndrome there is no reason why the syndrome could not occur in men as well, be it with a different symptomatic expression. Premature baldness before the age of thirty used to be suggested as a symptom of the male PCOS equivalent. Yet there still seems to be rather a meagre attention devoted to the endocrinological changes in men in the specialised literature, although there do exist genealogical studies on the occurrence of alopecia or glucose metabolic disorder in male members of the families where a considerable number of females were affected by PCOS.