Variations in Serum Testosterone Levels in Ghanaian Males

Abstract

The major objective of this work was to establish serum testosterone levels in Ghanaian males, for use at the Korle-Bu Teaching hospital and to find out the variation with age, and at what age in an individual would hormonal supplementation be needed. The study was carried out using serum collected from a cross section of the children and adult population in Accra. The analysis was done using an EIA method with an assay sensitivity of 0.05nmol/L. The results of serum testosterone confirmed the already documented fact that blacks have higher testosterone levels, (22.0-45.6nmol/L), than that of the Caucasians, (10.4- 34.7), whose values are quoted when reporting hormonal results. The 95% confidence range was 32.3-35.3nmol/L. This shows that reference intervals as suggested by most kits, should be established locally in order to have meaningful values for clinical evaluation. The results also showed that serum testosterone levels decrease with advancing age. There were decreases starting from the 5th decade but a more pronounced decrease began in the 6th decade, (11%), taking the difference between 20-70years. These changes in testosterone levels were not as high as those found in Caucasians, (51%), so dosage for testosterone replacement therapy should be worked out according to the Ghanaian levels. These results show that testosterone levels of the Caucasians cannot be quoted for the Ghanaians. LH values (5.74 — 9. 98U/L) showed increases as compared to the quoted values 1 .9U/L. SHBG (34.4 - 43.1nmol/L) and FSH (6.1 - 8.6U/L) were comparable to the quoted values given by the Kits.