Objective: To determine salivary and serum T levels by an RIA method after a single injection of 250 mg IM of commercially available T enanthate.
Design: Research study.
Setting: Patients attended in a hospital environment.
Patients: Sixteen men with secondary hypogonadism.
Interventions: Testosterone enanthate was administered, and salivary samples were taken before the injection. Thereafter, these samples were obtained daily until day 7 and then on alternate days until day 28 after injection. Blood samples were taken previously and after the injection (5 samples during the month).
Main outcome measure: Salivary and serum T.
Results: Salivary T levels rose from 3.46 +/- 3.16 to 13.82 +/- 7.78 ng/100 mL (0.12 +/- 0.11 to 0.48 +/- 0.27 nmol/L) within 24 hours and remained in that range until day 7. From day 9, 7.20 +/- 2.88 ng/100 mL (0.25 +/- 0.10 nmol/L), a progressive decrease of these values was observed until day 14: 5.18 +/- 2.88 ng/100 mL (0.18 +/- 0.10 nmol/L). From day 16 until day 28, salivary concentrations returned to hypogonadal levels.
Conclusion: We conclude that T salivary concentrations may be applied to assess the effectiveness of T substitutive therapy in hypogonadal men and could replace serum in the monitoring of this type of therapy.