Male Hormones Not Tied to Women's Libido

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although recent reports have apparently shown that testosterone seems to affect women's interest in sex, their levels of male hormones -- androgens -- are not clearly tied to sexual function, according to a report in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

It has been theorized that low androgen levels are, at least in part, to blame when a woman has little interest or enjoyment in sex, but supporting evidence for this notion has been lacking, Dr. Susan R. Davis, from Monash University in Victoria, Australia, and colleagues note.

The researchers assessed sexual function and measured levels of various androgens in 1021 randomly selected women who were free of any thyroid disorder, did not have polycystic ovarian disease, and were not taking any psychiatric medication. A standard questionnaire, the Profile of Female Sexual Function (PFSF), was administered to all the participants.

No androgen measurement was associated with any area of the PFSF assessment, the team reports.

By contrast, a low level of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) did correlate with low sexual desire, arousal, and responsiveness -- but the majority of women with low DHEAS levels did not have low sexual function.

The results contradict the idea of using testosterone to treat low sexual desire disorder, the researchers conclude.

Rather, they say that, taken together with what is already known, the results suggest that "sex steroids influence female sexual function," but that there is no specific level of androgens in women that can be classified as a deficiency.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, July 6, 2005.