076 - La diagnosi dell’iperandrogenismo: il quesito del clinico e la risposta del laboratorio

V.A. Giagulli, A. Fortunato Hyperandrogenism diagnosis: from clinical questions to laboratory replies Androgens are steroid hormones able to differentiate, develop and maintain primary and secondary male sexual characteristics. Moreover, Testosterone (T) presents important metabolic effects on protein, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. Hyperandrogenism represents the clinical condition induced by excessive androgens. In men, this clinical condition is less frequent than in women and, when it starts before puberty in the event of testotoxicosis, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Cell Leydig tumors, etc, can bring about pseudopubetax praecox. Hyperandrogenemia (elevated serum T and/or FT ) does not necessarily induce hyperandrogenism, a consequence of the fact that the androgens in plasma may be relatively inactive, a consequence of increased protein binding for example in hyperthyroidism, or a consequence of partial or complete androgen resistance of peripheral tissues, the latter yielding pseudoermafroditism.....