Hormonal and nonhormonal factors affecting sex hormone-binding globulin levels in blood.

Abstract

Researchers in Utrecht, the Netherlands have studied the effects of different factors, such as oral contraceptives (OCs), on sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels in blood. The SHBG levels in women who continuously used OCs consisting only of .05 mg of ethinyl estradiol (EE2) rose as high as 260% + or - 25% of those in women not using OCs. Further, mean SHBG levels of women using combination OCs of EE2 and levonorgestrel were 10-60% higher than women not using OCs. SHBG levels were significantly higher than the use of a sequential OC containing decreasing amounts of EE2 and increasing amounts of levonorgestrel than those cause by use of a continuous combined OC with .03 mg and .15 mg respectively. As the dosage of EE2 increased in combination OCs with 2.5 mg lynestrenol, the SHBG increased from 20% (.05 mg EE2) to 150% (.75 mg EE2). SHBG levels after taking EE2 and cyproterone acetate increased significantly more (240%) than levels after EE2 and desogestrel (170%), or after EE2 and gestoden (140%) [p.001]. SHBG levels of women who took OCs containing only .03 mg of levonorgestrel daily decreased 35% (p.01). These levels fell by 30% in women who received 150 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate intramuscularly every 3 months (p.001). SHBG concentrations increased when estrogens were taken orally for noncontraceptive purposes, but they did not change when they were administered percutaneously. As body weight increased the SHBG levels decreased despite hormonal status or sex. Further, the lower the fat content of one's diet the higher the SHBG levels and vice versa. SHBG levels are higher in males with flaccid lungs than they are in males with healthy lungs.