Testosterone:E2 ratio calculation

[SixHouse]

Can't find a consistent answer to this. When calculating the T:E2 ratio, should I use free or total testosterone?

I'm doing this for self research purposes. My last labs looked like this:

Total T: 1110 (ref 250-1100)
Free T: 224.2 (ref 35-155)
E2: 35 (ref <= 29)

T was high but that had to do with timing. My schedule got screwed up so I could only get blood drawn a few hours after injecting. But regardless, these values put the ratio at 295 which definitely doesn't make sense. If I use the free number that still gives a ratio of 60. Everything I read says things like "The normal testosterone (T)/estradiol (E2) ratio is 1.7"

So can someone clear this up for me?

 

[Cataceous]

The potentially useful ratios compare total to total or free to free. Total to total is more commonly discussed. It's easy to get tripped up over units. Simplest is to get testosterone and estradiol in the same units and compare E2/T to what is typical: 0.4-0.5%.

In your case presumably testosterone is in ng/dL and estradiol is in pg/mL. Estradiol is converted to ng/dL by dividing by 10: 35 pg/mL = 3.5 ng/dL. So E2/T is 0.3%, maybe a little lower than average.

More discussion of the ratio here:

T:E Ratio - What is a Good Number?

Is there a range or ratio that the Estradiol Sensitive should be in? Free Testosterone 11 pg/ml Estradiol Sensitive 26.6 pg/ml DHT 315 ng/dl Test cream applied to arm 8 hrs before blood draw. I looked elsewhere but could not find the answer but it is probably somewhere obvious.

www.excelmale.com

 

[SixHouse]

In that link Nelson says:

T/E has to be at least 10 for fertility (in a small study, so this is not cast in stone)
Total T in ng/dL divided by E2 in pg/ml

Which is again confusing. He's saying T/E but you're saying E/T. Also he makes no mention of converting units. Can you clear this all up?

 

[Cataceous]

It's all talking about the same thing—how testosterone compares to estradiol, but the units are different. If I tell you it's 32 degrees outside you need to know if it's Fahrenheit or Celsius before you know if it's hot or cold. The different ways of defining the relative comparison of estradiol and testosterone are interchangeable, readily cross-converted. For example, E2/T as a percent is converted to the commonly used T/E2 ratio in US units by dividing the value into 10. For your number of 0.317% above, 10 / 0.317 = 32 (ng mL / pg / dL). It is also calculated directly from your test results: 1110 ng/dL / 35 pg / mL = 32 (ng mL / pg / dL). On this inverse scale your ratio is now on the high side of what's considered typical—more like 15-25.

Reiterating: all that matters regarding these ratios is that people agree on which version is being used. Being familiar with these two common ones—and their normal values—is probably all you'll need.

 

[TorontoTRT]

Your E2 is way too low. But your testing is not done properly so these numbers don’t mean anything. Test again on trough. For 1100 test your E2 should be over 60.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Role of T:E ratio in predicting the efficacy of recombinant HCG and T treatment in male hypogonadism

ABSTRACT Objective: We aimed to investigate the role of testosterone to estradiol ratio in predicting the effectiveness of human chorionic gonadotropin and testosterone treatments in male hypogonadism. Materials and methods: Thirty-six male patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism were...

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