Testosterone and other Androgens
Testosterone and other Androgens
What are androgens?
Hello,
How are you? It’s my birthday today 🎉. Luckily, my birthday has fallen on a Sunday, and I can speak to you! I am entering my 30s today. I feel pretty fantastic about closing my 20s. I have a much stronger sense of who I am, and I am super excited to achieve amazing things with the confidence and learnings from my 20s.
I am considering doing an in person meet-up in London, so I can meet some of you and we can all connect.
In today's newsletter, I would like to talk about Androgens. When we talk about PCOS, we often refer to androgens. I usually use Testosterone to describe androgens for simplicity's sake, but there are actually multiple types of androgens in our body. I would love to discuss it in detail so let’s learn the different types of androgens.
Androgens are produced primarily by the adrenal glands and the ovaries.
In the OVARIES
As we discussed previously, all our hormones get synthesized from CHOLESTEROL (this little molecule gets such a bad reputation, but it does so much for us).
The image below shows how Cholesterol creates Testosterone through a whole chemical reaction.
In this reaction, the following androgens are created:
DHEA - Dehydroepiandrosterone
Androstenedione
Androstenediol
Testosterone - 25% of circulating testosterone is produced in the ovaries
Excessive androgen from ovaries is considered to be the most important inducer of PCOS.
Unfortunately, excessive androgen not only leads to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in the ovaries but also promotes many metabolic disorders such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, kidney disease and obesity.
In the ADRENALS
The adrenals are small, triangular-shaped glands located on top of both kidneys. They form part of our endocrine system and secrete hormones, including the most famous one: cortisol. They also produce androgens.
In this reaction, the following androgens are created:
DHEA - Dehydroepiandrosterone - 80% of this hormone is produced in the adrenals
DHEA-S - Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate - 100% of this hormone is produced in the adrenals (we discussed this hormone in detail in relation to Adrenal PCOS here)
Androstenedione
Testosterone - 25% of circulating testosterone in the adrenals
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT)
Testosterone and DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) are the most active forms of androgens. They are the ones who have receptors all across our bodies and can influence different organs.
Testosterone gets formed 50% in the ovaries and the adrenals. The other 50% gets produced in different tissues (skin, fat cells, liver) where needed. The tissues themselves don’t produce the hormone, but they take the other hormones mentioned above and convert them to testosterone where needed.
In addition, almost 10% of the testosterone produced by an adult each day is then converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a more potent form of testosterone.
The Role of Androgens
One of the primary roles of androgens in women is the production of estrogen. However, androgen receptors are distributed all around our body and can do a lot more:
Sexual Development: Androgens contribute to the development of female reproductive organs during fetal development. They also influence the growth of pubic and underarm hair during puberty.
Libido: Testosterone, in particular, plays a role in female sexual desire
Bone Health: Androgens contribute to maintaining bone density in both males and females.
Muscle Mass and Strength: Androgens support the maintenance of muscle mass and strength
Mood and Well-being: Androgens can influence mood and overall well-being. Testosterone, for example, has been linked to improved mood and energy levels.
Conclusion
I hope this made the androgen story a bit clearer for you. How amazing is our body? The amount of chemical reactions that happen in order for us to have a molecule. And I have not even gone into how this androgen production is stimulated by different hormones in the brain, the ones that act on the ovaries and the ones that act on the adrenals.
Have a lovely Sunday,
Francesca
1 Sources
References
Clinical Case. (2022, February 7). Androgen excess. Medscape.com. https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/273153-overview?form=fpf
Ye, W., Xie, T., Song, Y., & Zhou, L. (2021). The role of androgen and its related signals in PCOS. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, 25(4), 1825–1837. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcmm.16205
Disclaimer: We are all unique in our ways, so this information is for educational purposes only. In my communications, I summarise research data and bring my experience. This shouldn’t be viewed as medical advice at any point. Please further consult your healthcare provider about your health needs.