Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Androgen |
AndrogenNoun1. Male sex hormone that is produced in the testes and responsible for typical male sexual characteristics. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Androgen is the generic term for any natural or synthetic compound, usually a steroid hormone, that stimulates or controls the development and maintenance of masculine characteristics in vertebrates. This includes the activity of the accessory male sex organs and development of male secondary sex characteristics. Androgens, which were first discovered in 1936, are also called androgenic hormones or testoids. The primary, and most well-known, androgen is testosterone. All natural androgens are steroid derivatives of androstane (19-carbon tetracyclic hydrocarbon nucleus, C19H32). They are also the precursor of all estrogens, the female sex hormones.A subset of androgens, adrenal androgens, includes any of the 19-carbon steroids synthesized by the adrenal cortex, an adrenal gland, that function as weak steroids or steroid precursors, including dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), and androstenedione.
Besides testosterone, other androgens include:
The inability of XY karyotype males to respond to androgens results in an intersexed condition called androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS).
- Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA): a steroid hormone produced from cholesterol in the adrenal cortex, which is the primary precursor of natural estrogens. DHEA is also called dehydroisoandrosterone or dehydroandrosterone.
- Androstenedione (Andro): an androgenic steroid, which is produced by the testes, adrenal cortex, and ovaries. While androstenediones are converted metabolically to testosterone and other androgens, they are also the parent structure of estrone. Its use as an athletic or body building supplement has been banned by the International Olympic Committee.
- Androstanediol: the steroid metabolite that is thought to act as the main regulator of gonadotropin secretion.
- Androsterone: a chemical by-product created during the breakdown of androgens, or derived from progesterone, that also exerts minor masculinising effects, but with one-seventh the intensity of testosterone. It is found in approximately equal amounts in the plasma and urine of both males and females.
- Androstenolone: an androgenic steroid secreted by the adrenal cortex and testes, which is a major precursor of testosterone, but is even weaker than androsterone.
- Dihydrotestosterone (DHT): a metabolite of testosterone that is actually a more potent androgen in that it binds more strongly to androgen receptors.
See also: andrology, antiandrogen
External Links
- News story on the relationship between androgens and heart disease
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Androgen."
Synonym: AndrogenSynonym: androgenic hormone (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Man | Androgen. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Androgen |
| English words defined with "androgen": androgenic ♦ Durabolin ♦ ICSH, interstitial cell-stimulating hormone ♦ Kabolin ♦ LH, luteinizing hormone ♦ nandrolone. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "androgen": 17 alpha-Hydroxyprogesterone Aldolase ♦ androgen suppression ♦ Cyproterone Acetate ♦ Metribolone ♦ Prasterone ♦ Receptors, Androgen. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Androgen" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Danish (androgenic), German (androgenic), Swedish (androgen, androgenic). |
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | The principal androgen of the testes is testosterone. (references) | |
This rare syndrome of cortisol resistance is a genetic condition that causes hypertension and chronic androgen excess. (references) | ||
In humans, as males age, androgen production declines but estrogen levels remain the same or in some cases may increase. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Androgen" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Androgen" is used about 6 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 6 | 143,867 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "androgen": Androgen Antagonists ♦ androgen suppression ♦ total androgen blockade. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "androgen": Androgen-Binding, Androgen-Binding Protein. | |
Ending with "androgen": anti-androgen. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "androgen"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Arabic | منشط الذكورة. (various references) | |
Danish | androgen-resistens (androgen resistance), androgen omstemning (androgen change). (various references) | |
Dutch | androgene weerstand (androgen resistance), androgene resistentie (androgen resistance). (various references) | |
Finnish | androgeeni. (various references) | |
French | androgène (androgenic). (various references) | |
German | Androgenresistenz (androgen resistance), androgene Umstimmung (androgen change). (various references) | |
Greek | ανδρογόνο. (various references) | |
Italian | androgeno iniettabile (injectable androgen), terapia di sostituzione con androgeni (androgen-replacement therapy), iniezione intramuscolare di androgeno (intramuscular injection of an androgen), blocco degli androgeni (androgen blockade). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | androgenay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | troca andrógena (androgen change), resistência andrógena (androgen resistance). (various references) | |
Russian | андроген андрогенный. (various references) | |
Spanish | andrógino (androgynous), andrógeno. (various references) | |
Swedish | androgen (androgenic). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | Hocmon nam. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "androgen": androgeneses, androgenesis, androgenetic, androgenic, androgens. (additional references) | |
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"Androgen" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Andrien, androgene, androgeny, androgyn, Androuet, Anfrage, Nordgren, Randtroge. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-e-g-n-n-o-r" | |
-1 letter: groaned. | |
-2 letters: danger, dogear, dragon, gander, garden, nonage, onager, orange, ranged. | |
-3 letters: adore, adorn, agone, anger, anode, argon, denar, donga, donna, donne, drone, genoa, genro, gonad, goner, gored, grade, grand, groan, oared, orang, oread, organ, radon, raged, range, redan, redon, regna. | |
-4 letters: aeon, aero, aged, ager, agon, anon, dago, dang, dare, darn, dean, dear. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-e-g-n-n-o-r" | |
+1 letter: androgens, androgyne, downrange, nongraded. | |
+2 letters: androgenic, androgynes, broadening, nonreading, readorning. | |
+3 letters: androgynies, denigration, endeavoring, nongraduate, overhanding, promenading, reordaining, ropedancing, unorganized. | |
+4 letters: androgeneses, androgenesis, androgenetic, degeneration, denigrations, endeavouring, nongraduates, nonirrigated, nonregulated, overhandling, preordaining, ropedancings, undercoating. | |
+5 letters: commandeering, confederating, dangerousness, decarbonating, decarbonizing, degenerations, degranulation, demonstrating, foreordaining, grandiloquent, grandioseness, hydrogenating, hydrogenation, nondecreasing, nondegenerate, nondegradable, nonintegrated, nonsegregated, noradrenergic, overdemanding, overexpanding, predominating, scandalmonger, undercoatings. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
