TLDR ADT-G may be a useful indicator of increased androgen levels in women with acne and can be lowered with certain birth control pills.
The study, involving 38 adult women with acne but no clinical signs of hyperandrogenism, investigated androsterone glucuronide (ADT-G) as a biomarker for peripheral hyperandrogenism. ADT-G levels were found to be significantly higher in the acne group compared to the control group, with mean values of 10.4 ± 4 ng/ml, and decreased following treatment with a combined oral contraceptive (COC) containing ethinylestradiol and drospirenone, indicating its potential as a sensitive biomarker for androgen metabolism in adult female acne. Other hormones such as total testosterone, free testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate did not show significant changes, suggesting that these patients were "normoandrogenemic." The study concluded that ADT-G could be a useful biomarker for peripheral hyperandrogenism in adult female acne, with COC treatment effectively reducing ADT-G levels and demonstrating an antiandrogenic effect. Topical azelaic acid (AA) did not affect hormone levels due to minimal systemic absorption. The study was supported by the Fleury Institute, Bayer, and FUNADERSP, with no conflicts of interest reported.
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