Despite decades of different treatment algorithms, the management of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) remains clinically challenging. This is due to the inherent difficulty of suppressing adrenal androgen production using near physiological dosing of glucocorticoids (GC). As a result, alternating cycles of androgen versus GC excess can occur and may lead to short stature, obesity, virilizat...

Excess male-pattern body hair in women is a very common and psychologically damaging condition. Although its cause is usually a chronic and benign disorder (most commonly polycystic ovary syndrome) it may rarely be an indication of a more serious endocrine disease such as Cushing syndrome or an androgen-secreting tumour. Investigations do not usually need to be extensive, but effective manageme...

Clinical manifestations of androgen excess-hirsutism, acne and alopecia-are very common and distressing symptoms in women of reproductive age. These symptoms are frequently associated with polycystic ovary syndrome, in which condition menstrual disturbances are also common. The combination of the anti-androgen cyproterone acetate (2 mg) and ethinyl estradiol (35 microg) (co-cypridiol) is of pro...

Forty two women with hidradenitis suppurative were assessed clinically and biochemically for evidence of androgen excess. Thirteen had irregular menses; 22 of 36 experienced exacerbation of hidradenitis suppurative premenstrually; 19 had or had had acne vulgaris; and seven were hirsute. Comedones (blackheads) were found in apocrine sites in 37, but also in retroauricular sites in 18 and were co...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is prevalent in reproductive-aged women and confounded by metabolic morbidities, including insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Although the etiology of PCOS is undefined, contribution of prenatal androgen (PA) exposure has been proposed in a rhesus monkey model as premenopausal PA female adults have PCOS-like phenotypes in addition to insulin resistance and ...

BACKGROUND Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients typically have 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) hyperresponsiveness to GnRH agonist (GnRHa) (PCOS-T). The objective of this study was to determine the source of androgen excess in the one-third of PCOS patients who atypically lack this type of ovarian dysfunction (PCOS-A). METHODS Aged-matched PCOS-T (n= 40), PCOS-A (n= 20) and controls (n= 3...

Among women, the polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is considered a form of metabolic syndrome with reproductive abnormalities. Women with PCOS show increased sympathetic tone, visceral adiposity with enlarged adipocytes, hypoadiponectinemia, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, increased inactive osteocalcin, and hypertension. Excess fetal exposure to androgens has been hypothesized to pla...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common heterogeneous endocrine disorder characterized by irregular menses, hyperandrogenism, and polycystic ovaries. The prevalence of PCOS varies depending on which criteria are used to make the diagnosis, but is as high as 15%-20% when the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology/American Society for Reproductive Medicine criteria are used. ...

Expert’s summary: Abiraterone acetate, a small molecule inhibitor of cytochrome P17 (CYP17), inhibits 17 alpha-hydroxylase and C17, 20 lyase, both key enzymes in androgen synthesis. It was tested in 21 chemotherapy-naı̈ve men with metastatic prostate cancer that was resistant to multiple hormone therapies. Once-daily oral abiraterone acetatewas given at doses of 250 mg, 500 mg, 750 mg, 1000 mg, ...

BACKGROUND We evaluated carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) as an early marker of atherosclerosis, as well as its main determinants among androgen excess, obesity and insulin resistance, in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). METHODS We selected 40 PCOS patients and 20 non-hyperandrogenic women who were similar in terms of age and grade of obesity. Complete clinical, metabolic a...