|
|
||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Endocrinology and Metabolism |
1 Department of Endocrinology, Vrije Universiteit University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
3 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
4 Geestelijke Gezondheidszorg Delfland, Institute of Mental Health, Delft, The Netherlands.
5 Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.
aAddress correspondence to this author at: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, 600 University Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1X5, Fax 416-586-8628; e-mail ediamandis{at}mtsinai.on.ca.
Background: Concentrations of human tissue kallikreins (hKs), a group of 15 secreted serine proteases found in many tissues, are modulated by steroid hormones in cancer cell lines. To gain insight into in vivo kallikrein regulation we measured kallikrein concentrations in serum and urinary tissue in female-to-male transsexuals before and after testosterone administration.
Methods: We collected blood and urine samples before treatment and after 4 and 12 months from 28 female-to-male transsexuals who received 250 mg of testosterone esters intramuscularly every 2 weeks. We used ELISA assays to measure multiple kallikreins in serum and urine.
Results: After testosterone administration, serum testosterone concentrations increased by
15-fold. Serum kallikrein concentrations increased dramatically for hK3 (prostate-specific antigen) and increased moderately for hK2, hK5, hK6, hK7, hK8, hK10, and hK11. In urine, we noted major increases for hK3 and hK2 only. For all other kallikrein concentrations, we observed no considerable changes.
Conclusions: We conclude that, in serum and urine of female-to-male transsexuals after testosterone administration, hK3 (prostate-specific antigen) and to a lesser extent hK2 concentrations increase dramatically, but concentration of other kallikreins increase either moderately in serum (hK5, hK6, hK7, hK8, hK10, and hK11) or not at all in either serum (hK4, hK13, hK14) or urine (hK4, hK5, hK6, hK7, hK8, hK10, hK11, hK13, hK14).
The following articles in journals at HighWire Press have cited this article:
![]() |
A. Mueller, F. Kiesewetter, H. Binder, M. W. Beckmann, and R. Dittrich Long-Term Administration of Testosterone Undecanoate Every 3 Months for Testosterone Supplementation in Female-to-Male Transsexuals J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., September 1, 2007; 92(9): 3470 - 3475. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |