Androgen and estrogen metabolism: relationship to obesity.

Adipose tissue contains both aromatase and 17 beta-steroid dehydrogenase activity. Therefore, to see whether there was a relationship between obesity and certain parameters of androgen and estrogen metabolism we infused 88 women, mean age 51.1 +/- 0.3 years and mean weight 140 +/- 3 lbs, with 3H-testosterone (T)/14C-estradiol (E2) and 3H-androstenedione (A)/14C-estrone (E1) on separate occasions. Blood samples were obtained during the infusion and all urine was collected for 4 days following the start of the infusion. The blood samples were analyzed for radioactivity as A, T, E1, E2, and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and the urines were analyzed for radioactivity as E1 and E2. From these data we calculated the percent of A converted to T ([rho]A,TBB = percent of A infused measured as T in the blood), [rho]T,ABB [rho]E1,E2BB, and [rho]E2,E1BB. We also measured the ratio of radioactivity as 3H-DHT to radioactivity as 3H-A (CRA,DHT) and 3H-T (CRT,DHT) during the respective androgen infusions. From the ratio of 3H/14C as estrone or estradiol in the urine following 3H-A or 3H-T infusions, we calculated the percent of A or T that was aromatized to E1 or E2 ([rho]A,E1BM; [rho]T,E2BM). When the data from these women were related to weight or Quetelet's Index (QI = wt/ht2) by unweighted linear regression, the only values that were significantly correlated with weight and QI were [rho]T,E2BM and [rho]A,E1BM; for all other [rho] and CR values there was no correlation with weight or QI. We conclude that peripheral aromatization is positively correlated with adiposity but androgen interconversions and estrogen interconversions are not related to adiposity.