Sex-hormone-binding globulin in clinically hyperandrogenic women: association of plasma concentrations with body weight

The relationship of sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) with actual body weight (ABW), ideal body weight (IBW), ABW as percentage of the IBW (% IBW), Quetelet index (weight/height2) and plasma concentrations of various androgens and 17β-estradiol (E2) were studied in 9 normal and 57 hirsute patients (group 1). In hirsute patients, plasma levels (ng/dl, mean±standard error of the mean [SEM]) of testosterone (T; 77±4), dihydrotestosterone (DHT; 26±2), androstenedione (Δ4A; 184±16), and SHBG (0.91±0.05μg DHT/dl) but not of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA; 608±55) and E2 (6.1±0.1) were significantly different from those in controls. A negative correlation was observed between SHBG and ABW, both in controls (P