The use of hormone testing in diagnosing, treating and preventing medical conditions is always evolving. Here’s what PATH and others in the clinical, medical and public health communities are doing to achieve a common understanding of hormone measurement and strengthen the accuracy and reliability of hormone testing.
List of Priority Hormones Identified at PATH Steering Committee Meeting (in alphabetical order):
- Adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH)
- Aldosterone
- Anit-mullerian hormone
- CEA
- Cortisol
- DHEAS
- D-dimer
- Estradiol
- Estrone
- Folate
- Follicle Stimulating Hormones (FSH)
- Growth hormone
- Inhibin B
- Insulin-like growth hormone 1 (IGF-1)
- Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3)
- Luteinizing hormone (LH)
- Parathyroid hormone
- Progesterone
- PSA
- Serum Albumin
- Testosterone, including free-testosterone
- Thyrogobulin
- Thyroid hormones (T3, T4), including free-T4
- Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
- Thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies
- Vitamin D
- 17-Hydroxyprogesterone
(Source: CAP Accuracy-based Committee, September 2020 meeting minutes. File 9.12.2020 ABPC_Minutes Approved. Docx)
CDC Certified Laboratories as of December 2020
CDC Hormone Standardization Program
CDC Vitamin D Standardization Program
New Report on Estradiol Ranges in Postmenopausal Women Released
Updated recommendations to establish normal estradiol reference ranges have been released in a new report from the North American Menopause Society (NAMS).
The report is based on a symposium called “Workshop on Normal Reference Ranges for Estradiol in Postmenopausal Women,” that was held in September 2019, in Chicago, Ill., and featured 28 presentations. PATH was one of seven organizations that supported this symposium.
The overarching goal of the symposium was to review existing analytical methodologies for measuring estradiol in postmenopausal women and to assess existing data and study cohorts of postmenopausal women for their suitability to establish normal postmenopause reference ranges.
The anticipated outcome of the workshop was to develop recommendations for establishing normal reference ranges generated with a standardized and certified assay that could be adopted by clinical and research communities.
The report from the workshop is published in the June 2020 issue of Menopause.
Global Consensus Position Statement
The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM) published a Global Consensus Position Statement on the Use of Testosterone Therapy for Women.
A landmark study defines “normal” for testosterone
To treat men with sexual dysfunction, decreased bone and muscle strength, low energy and fertility problems related to low testosterone, doctors need to know what level of testosterone is considered “normal.”
A study co-authored by PATH Co-Chairs Hubert Vesper and Alvin Matsumoto addressed this challenge. Researchers collected testosterone samples from over 9,000 men who had already had their testosterone levels measured by local doctors. They sent the new samples to the CDC, who used another technique—liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry—to gauge testosterone levels.
Results from both measurements informed the first-ever standardized range for normal testosterone levels in non-obese European and American men age 19-39 years.
“Well-defined reference ranges are at the heart of clinical practice,” said the study’s lead author Shalender Bhasin. “Without them, clinicians can make erroneous diagnoses that could lead to patients receiving costly, lifelong treatments that they don’t need or deny treatments to those who need them.”