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3-Androstanediol Glucuronide in Premature and Normal Pubarche^*

Department of Pediatrics (M/C 856), University of Illinois College of Medicine (L.M.R., M.E.W., A.R.S., P.E.K., A.T.C., S.P.) Chicago, Illinois 60612
Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital (L.R.G.) St. Louis, Missouri 63104
St. Luke’s-Rooseuelt Hospital (L.S.L., S.E.O.) New York, New York 10025

Address requests for reprints to: Dr. Songya Pang, Department of Pediatrics (M/C 856), University of Illinois, 840 South Wood Street, Chicago, Illinois 60612.

To investigate the role of adrenal androgens in 3-androstanediol glucuronide (3AG) production in childhood, we compared serum 3AG and androgen levels [dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), DHEA sulfate (DS), androstenedione (⁴-A), and testosterone (T)] in 32 children with premature pubarche due to idiopathic premature adrenarche (IPA; n = 26), partial 21-hydroxylase deficiency (n = 2), or 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase deficiency (n = 4) with those in 36 normal prepubertal (18 males and 18 females) and 22 normal pubertal Tanner II–III subjects (10 males and 12 females). Serum 3AG (2.7 ± 2.0 nmol/L) and all androgen concentrations in children with IPA were significantly higher (P < 0.05–0.001) than those in normal prepubertal children (3AG, 0.8 ± 0.5 nmol/L). Serum 3AG and androgen levels, except T, in all children with premature pubarche due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency or 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase deficiency were higher than those in the normal prepubertal children. Serum 3AG and all androgen levels in normal Tanner II–III male (3AG, 3.8 ± 1.7 nmol/L) or female (3AG, 1.74 ± 0.52 nmol/L) subjects were also significantly higher (P < 0.05–0.001) than those in prepubertal children. Serum 3AG, DHEA, DS, and ⁴-A levels in children with IPA were similar to those in normal Tanner II–III females or males, but serum T in children with IPA (0.37 ± 0.2 nmol/L) was significantly lower (P < 0.05–0.001) than that in normal pubertal females (0.71 ± 0.37 nmol/L) or males (4.5 ± 2.6 nmol/L). In the combined group (n = 88), 3AG levels correlated better with serum DS (r = 0.7), DHEA (r = 0.6), and ⁴-A (r = 0.52), than with T (r = 0.31) levels. These data suggest that the weak adrenal androgens DS, DHEA, and ⁴-A contribute substantially to 3AG production in premature and normal pubarche.

^* This work was supported in part by USPHS Grant RO1-HD-24360, a grant from Washington Square Health Foundation at Chicago, and a biomedical research grant from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago. This work was presented in part at the 71st Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society, Seattle, WA, June 21–24, 1989.

Received May 14, 1990.

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