Dr Saya: Relative concentrations of various hormones in the body

[Dr Justin Saya MD]

As the title suggests, as simple food for thought (johndoesmith should like this one) I'm listing common levels/concentrations for various hormones in the male body. Further, to facilitate direct comparison, I am adjusting the units of measurement to units that we are all familiar in dealing with - ng/dL - the typical units of measurement for total testosterone concentrations. It's interesting to note the relative concentrations (look at DHEA!), but also the biological potency of some of the lower concentration hormones. Eat away and exercise those minds!

Total Testosterone - 1000 ng/dL = 1000 ng/dL

Free Testosterone - 30 pg/mL = 3 ng/dL

Estradiol, sensitive - 30 pg/mL = 3 ng/dL

DHEA - 350 ug/dL = 350,000 ng/dL

SHBG - 30 nmol/L = 865 ng/dL

Progesterone - 0.3 ng/mL = 30 ng/dL

DHT - 50 ng/dL = 50 ng/dL

Pregnenolone - 60 ng/dL = 60 ng/dL

AM Cortisol (serum) - 15 ug/dL = 15,000 ng/dL

Free T3 - 3.5 pg/mL = 0.35 ng/dL

Free T4 - 1.00 ng/dL = 1 ng/dL

Prolactin - 10ng/mL = 1000ng/dL

 

[MikeXL]

This is great. I always wondered what the common levels were in people on TRT. I think though the free T is off? Otherwise, free t percent would be 0.3%. Either that or I am Superman at 242 pg/mL

 

[Dr Justin Saya MD]

This is great. I always wondered what the common levels were in people on TRT. I think though the free T is off? Otherwise, free t percent would be 0.3%. Either that or I am Superman at 242 pg/mL

Different calibrations and measurement from different labs...most notably LabCorp vs Quest.

If you look at LabCorp free T reference ranges (vary as they're age adjusted), general range is ~10-30 pg/mL (again varies by age). Whereas Quest free T range can go into the hundreds with same units (i.e. 35 - 155 pg/mL). This is certainly an oddity, but a scenario where you have to assess WHERE you are with RESPECT to the respective reference range and also take SHBG levels into account for calibration purposes.

The above labs are for LABCORP measurements/ranges.

 

[sportsfan8724]

Are we saying these would be ideal numbers??

 

[Dr Justin Saya MD]

Are we saying these would be ideal numbers??

Absolutely not. Simply commonly seen or "normal" levels (within reference range) simply for comparison purposes to gain insight into the RELATIVE concentration differences amongst the various hormones.

 

[sportsfan8724]

Ok got it👌 It would be very neat to see a study of healthy 20 years levels esp estradiol.

 

[johndoesmith]

Ok got it It would be very neat to see a study of healthy 20 years levels esp estradiol.

There are a few I've seen, did some searching, and found this one.



https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11155090

40 pmol/l = 10pg/ml for E2. It's probably a standard E2 test.

 

[johndoesmith]

As the title suggests, as simple food for thought (johndoesmith should like this one) I'm listing common levels/concentrations for various hormones in the male body. Further, to facilitate direct comparison, I am adjusting the units of measurement to units that we are all familiar in dealing with - ng/dL - the typical units of measurement for total testosterone concentrations. It's interesting to note the relative concentrations (look at DHEA!), but also the biological potency of some of the lower concentration hormones. Eat away and exercise those minds!

Total Testosterone - 1000 ng/dL = 1000 ng/dL

Free Testosterone - 30 pg/mL = 3 ng/dL

Estradiol, sensitive - 30 pg/mL = 3 ng/dL

DHEA - 350 ug/dL = 350,000 ng/dL

SHBG - 30 nmol/L = 865 ng/dL

Progesterone - 0.3 ng/mL = 30 ng/dL

DHT - 50 ng/dL = 50 ng/dL

Pregnenolone - 60 ng/dL = 60 ng/dL

AM Cortisol (serum) - 15 ug/dL = 15,000 ng/dL

Free T3 - 3.5 pg/mL = 0.35 ng/dL

Free T4 - 1.00 ng/dL = 1 ng/dL

Very interesting! I never knew about the DHEA concentration in blood being so high relative to other hormones. Certainly makes sense seeing as DHEA is a major precursor to the sex hormones.

I wonder how much in terms of percentages 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone vs DHEA is used.

This is great. I always wondered what the common levels were in people on TRT. I think though the free T is off? Otherwise, free t percent would be 0.3%. Either that or I am Superman at 242 pg/mL

Free testosterone is an odd one, I imagine it has to do with the methodology of the specific test, in accordance with how they isolate the free testosterone from the serum.

Either way, Dr Saya explained how to read those tests, by using the reference range. It's all relative.

 

[davidrn]

Dr Saya, thanks for the list, wondered if you could add prolactin to the list?

 

[johndoesmith]

Dr Saya, thanks for the list, wondered if you could add prolactin to the list?

I'm not Dr Saya but prolactin 10ng/mL - 1000ng/dL

 

[Dr Justin Saya MD]

Dr Saya, thanks for the list, wondered if you could add prolactin to the list?

Johndoesmith is correct. I've added it to the original list.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Pretty interesting comparison! It never occurred to me to convert units to the same one to see the magnitude of hormone concentrations needed by our bodies.

 

[johndoesmith]

I'm starting to think the mass of hormones is less useful than the molecular mass for comparison.

I was thinking about relative binding to SHBG of different sex hormones, with DHT > Test > E2 being the affinity of SHBG to said hormones.

With DHT 50ng/dl = 1.72nmol/l

With 500ng/dl testosterone = 17.35nmol/l

With 30pg/ml E2 = 110pmol/l = .11nmol/l

I don't know if this is exactly relevant, but it seems so to me, Dr Saya can you comment on the usefulness of this?

I don't feel like converting all the hormones in the OP so if someone else feels like doing it go for it https://www.menshormonalhealth.com/hormone-unit-conversion-calculator.html

 

[Dr Justin Saya MD]

I'm starting to think the mass of hormones is less useful than the molecular mass for comparison.

I was thinking about relative binding to SHBG of different sex hormones, with DHT > Test > E2 being the affinity of SHBG to said hormones.

With DHT 50ng/dl = 1.72nmol/l

With 500ng/dl testosterone = 17.35nmol/l

With 30pg/ml E2 = 110pmol/l = .11nmol/l

I don't know if this is exactly relevant, but it seems so to me, Dr Saya can you comment on the usefulness of this?

I don't feel like converting all the hormones in the OP so if someone else feels like doing it go for it https://www.menshormonalhealth.com/hormone-unit-conversion-calculator.html

Since this is simply converting mass vs molecular mass per unit volume - deciliter vs liter, the ratios end up unchanged.

For example:

Testosterone 1000 ng/dL (= 34.7 nmol/L)
DHT 50 ng/dL (= 1.735 nmol/L)
Ratio T : DHT = 1000/50 = 20
Alternatively ratio DHT:T = 50/1000 = 0.05

VS

Testosterone 34.7 nmol/L
DHT 1.735 nmol/L
Ratio T : DHT = 34.7/1.735 = 20
Alternatively ratio DHT:T = 1.735/34.7 = 0.05

Granted I'm not a chemist, but this is simply another way to convert/compare concentrations in the same units - which is really the only way to compare accurately.

 

[johndoesmith]

Since this is simply converting mass vs molecular mass per unit volume - deciliter vs liter, the ratios end up unchanged.

For example:

Testosterone 1000 ng/dL (= 34.7 nmol/L)
DHT 50 ng/dL (= 1.735 nmol/L)
Ratio T : DHT = 1000/50 = 20
Alternatively ratio DHT:T = 50/1000 = 0.05

VS

Testosterone 34.7 nmol/L
DHT 1.735 nmol/L
Ratio T : DHT = 34.7/1.735 = 20
Alternatively ratio DHT:T = 1.735/34.7 = 0.05

Granted I'm not a chemist, but this is simply another way to convert/compare concentrations in the same units - which is really the only way to compare accurately.

This is why you're the Dr and I am not.

It was a thought, I ran with it, turns out it's not relevant!

 

[Ronald]

Dr. Saya, Thanks for listing them, It's really a great help to me.

 

[Dr Justin Saya MD]

This is why you're the Dr and I am not.

It was a thought, I ran with it, turns out it's not relevant!

Molar mass is useful to consider molecular number. The ratio I calculated is simply identical as the mass of a DHT molecule is virtually identical to the mass of a testosterone molecule, save for the weight of hydrogen which is insignificant. So this is indeed a useful lens to view the hormones through. In fact, I wish they were reported on the lab reports as molar mass and all the same units.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

HORMONE UNIT CONVERSION CALCULATOR

 

[johndoesmith]

Molar mass is useful to consider molecular number. The ratio I calculated is simply identical as the mass of a DHT molecule is virtually identical to the mass of a testosterone molecule, save for the weight of hydrogen which is insignificant. So this is indeed a useful lens to view the hormones through. In fact, I wish they were reported on the lab reports as molar mass and all the same units.

Why so many different units are used for hormones is a bit dumb IMO, save for DHEA which requires 6 figures haha.

 

[PedroZuñiga]

This is great!!