β-Endorphin basal levels in hirsute women

The basal levels of β-endorphin were measured in 43 women with various grades of hirsutism. The degree of the hair growth, weight, body mass index (BMI), age, menstrual regularity and various androgen or pituitary hormone values were not sufficient to distinguish the patients with regard to their β-endorphin levels. In 11 patients a clinical diagnosis of a polycystic ovarian disease-like disorder was made. The β-endorphin values of these women did not differ from those of 10 women with adrenal hyperandrogenism or the other hirsute women with identical BMI. Plasma β-endorphin was significantly higher in obese hirsute patients with a low testosterone/sex-hormone-binding globulin () ratio than in lean, nonhirsute women with a higher ratio (P < 0.02). The findings suggest a possible but complex connection of β-endorphin with some forms of female hyperandrogenism.