%0 Journal Article
%T Gestational age-specific reference intervals for androgens in pregnancy.
%A Lau SL
%A Yuen LY
%A Ho CS
%A Chan MHM
%A Ma RCW
%A Tam WH
%J J Clin Endocrinol Metab
%V 0
%N 0
%D 2024 Jun 13
%M 38870268
%F 6.134
%R 10.1210/clinem/dgae382
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>Androgen could impact cervical remodelling during pregnancy, and a higher level is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. A population-based gestation age-specific reference interval (RI) of total testosterone (TT), androstenedione (A4), and 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) can help to diagnose maternal hyperandrogenism.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>We enrolled 600 healthy Chinese women to obtain longitudinal serum samples across gestation. The serum androgen profile was measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The equations for medians of TT, A4, and 17-OHP were generated by MedCal, and the variances adjusted for 2-level modeling were generated by MLwiN, a system for the specification and analysis of a range of multilevel models.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>A4 and TT levels increased across the gestation, and they closely correlated with each other (R = 0.90, P=<0.001), whereas 17-OHP level decreased from 5th gestational week to 16th gestational week and then increased afterward towards the end of pregnancy. Women diagnosed with preeclampsia (PE) were found to have a significantly higher level of A4, TT, and 17-OHP when compared with non-PE cases with p ≤0.01, whereas mothers carrying male versus female fetuses have comparable levels of A4, TT, and 17-OHP.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>The study highlights a methodology for constructing gestational age-specific TT, A4, and 17-OHP levels to provide a better interpretation of results in a cohort of healthy Chinese women. The observation in PE supports previous findings, and the higher levels of TT, A4, and 17-OHP were observed before the onset of PE.