Serum and hair steroid profiles and their associations with body composition in adolescence
Authors' conclusion
Hair steroid profiling represents a feasible, non-invasive alternative to serum analysis, capturing both systemic hormone levels and localized metabolic activity. This approach shows considerable promise for clinical endocrinology; however, further validation across developmental stages and diverse disease contexts is necessary before it can be adopted into clinical practice.
Study context
- Population
- Late- or post-pubertal adolescents aged 15 to 16 years at the 8-year follow-up of the PANIC study, Kuopio, Finland
- Participants
- 241 participants
- Exposure
- Serum vs hair steroid profiles
- Girlsn = 103
- Boysn = 137
- Outcome
- Serum and hair steroid profiles (LC-MS) and associations with body size and composition
Methodological detailspopulation-based
- Population-based
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- A broad spectrum of steroids was reliably detected in both serum and hair
- Hair showed distinct profiles: pronounced accumulation of pregnenolone; measurable cortisone, cortisol, DHEA, androstenedione, androstanedione, 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione, 11-ketoandrostenedione, testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, indicating active peripheral metabolism
- Androgen levels in serum and hair correlated more strongly with body size and composition in boys than in girls
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Serum and hair steroid profiles and their associations with body composition in adolescence. Eur J Endocrinol. Published 19 November 2025. doi:10.
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