Cited by 3,824Hormonal and reproductive studiesAdrenal Hormones and DisordersClinical Laboratory Practices and Quality Control

A Critical Evaluation of Simple Methods for the Estimation of Free Testosterone in Serum

Vermeulen, Alex, Verdonck, Lieve, Kaufman, Jean M.·1999·The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

Abstract

The free and nonspecifically bound plasma hormone levels generally reflect the clinical situation more accurately than total plasma hormone levels. Hence, it is important to have reliable indexes of these fractions. The apparent free testosterone (T) concentration obtained by equilibrium dialysis (AFTC) as well as the fraction of serum T not precipitated by 50% ammonium sulfate concentration (non-SHBG-T; SHBG, sex hormone-binding globulin), often referred to as bioavailable T, appear to represent reliable indexes of biologically readily available T, but are not well suited for clinical routine, being too time consuming. Several other parameters have been used without complete validation, however: direct immunoassay of free T with a labeled T analog (aFT), calculation of free T (FT) from total T and immunoassayed SHBG concentrations (iSHBG), and the free androgen index (FAI = the ratio 100T/iSHBG). In the view of substantial discrepancies in the literature concerning the free or bioavailable T levels, we compared AFTC, FT, aFT, FAI, and non-SHBG-T levels in a large number of sera with SHBG capacities varying from low, as in hirsute women, to extremely high as in hyperthyroidism. All these indexes of bioavailable T correlated significantly with the AFTC concentration; AFTC and FT values were almost identical under all conditions studied, except during pregnancy. Values for aFT, however, were only a fraction of either AFTC or FT, the fraction varying as a function of SHBG levels…

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1210/jcem.84.10.6079

Cites

15 of 15 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Vermeulen, A., Verdonck, L., & Kaufman, J. M.
Affiliations
Ghent University Hospital (BE)
Corresponding author
Kaufman, Jean M.
Venue
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
Published
1999-10-01
Volume
84
Issue
10
Pages
3666-3672
ISSN
  • 0021-972X (ISSN-L)
  • 1945-7197
OpenAlex
W2098247759
Cited by
3,824
References
15
Citations by year
2026: 107 · 2025: 131 · 2024: 122 · 2023: 137 · 2022: 161 · 2021: 161 · 2020: 170 · 2019: 141 · 2018: 144 · 2017: 165 · 2016: 168 · 2015: 196 · 2014: 212 · 2013: 206 · 2012: 204
FWCI
22.21
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Hormonal and reproductive studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Clinical Laboratory Practices and Quality Control
Keywords
free testosterone, bioavailable testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, equilibrium dialysis, free androgen index, ammonium sulfate precipitation, pregnancy, hyperthyroidism, hirsutism
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Androgens, Dialysis, Evaluation Studies as Topic, Female, Humans, Hyperthyroidism, Immunoassay, Male, Methods, Middle Aged, Osmolar Concentration, Pregnancy, Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin, Testosterone, Postmenopause

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review