Serum levels of 4-androstene-3,17-dione in menstruating and postmenopausal women. Evaluation of a radioimmunoassay and correlation with bone mineral content and endometrial pathology.

A radioimmunoassay for serum 4-androstene-3,17-dione (A-4) using anti-4-androstene-3, 17-dione-11 alpha-hemisuccinate bovine serum albumin was applied to serum samples from 16 healthy, normally menstruating women in different phases of the menstrual cycle, from 36 healthy postmenopausal women and from 23 postmenopausal women with various bone mineral contents and endometrial conditions, undergoing an acute ACTH stimulation test. The values obtained in the normal subjects were consistent with those found in the literature. A-4 levels were significantly higher at midcycle than in the follicular phase and were significantly lower in postmenopausal than in menstruating women. ACTH increased the levels of A-4 significantly. However, no significant correlation was found between basal levels or the ACTH-induced increments of A-4 on the one hand and bone mineral content, endometrial condition and the patients' weight, age, or Broca's index on the other. This is in contrast to our previous finding of significant correlations between basal dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and ACTH-induced increments in dehydroepiandrosterone on the one hand and bone mineral content on the other in the same clinical material. We discuss whether the differences in correlations to bone mineral content between the two adrenocortical androgens may be due to a rather more complex origin of the steroid moiety of A-4.