Quantitating Genetic and Nongenetic Factors Influencing Androgen Production and Clearance Rates in Men*

Both hereditary and nonhereditary factors have a decided influence on plasma sex steroid concentrations in men. We studied the relative contributions of genetic and nongenetic factors on the production rate (PR) and MCR of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and their conversion ratios to other metabolites in monozygotic (MZ; n = 22) and dizygotic (DZ; n = 24) male twins. Zygosity was determined by measurement of 10 blood proteins and enzymes. The kinetic studies were conducted with isotope dilution techniques. The genetic effect was determined from the equation: 2rMZ - rDZ, where r is intraclass correlation. A heritability of over 40% was found for the PRs of DHT/body surface area and of testosterone/body surface area. Nongenetic factors accounted for 50% or more of the variation of the conversion ratios for testosterone/3 alpha-androstanediol and DHT/3 alpha-androstanediol. The results suggest that genetic factors markedly influence the PRs of testosterone and DHT, suggesting that the PR of these potent androgens is under genetic control despite the decided influence of environmental factors on their clearance.