Androstenedione
An androgen precursor made by both the adrenals and gonads, converted into testosterone and estrone.
Helps localise the source of androgen excess — particularly useful in women with hirsutism, acne or hair loss to distinguish adrenal from ovarian causes, and to screen for non-classic CAH.
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🩸 Test your Androstenedione
Order directly through Marek Diagnostics — no doctor's visit needed, drawn at any Quest location in the US. Code CAMERON applies 10% off automatically.
Order this test — 10% off → Browse all 102 markers →What Androstenedione is usually tested alongside
On its own, one marker is a data point. These panels include Androstenedione plus the markers that make it interpretable — each names every test, why it is on the list, and loads the whole set into your cart in one click at 10% off.
includes this + 10 more markers · built for men — Fatigue, low libido, poor recovery, mood or body composition changes — and you're considering TRT. Read this before you start.
includes this + 10 more markers · built for men — You've decided to start testosterone therapy. Draw this before your first injection.
includes this + 10 more markers · built for women — Anywhere from late 30s onward with cycle changes, night sweats, sleep disruption, mood shifts, joint aches, brain fog, or a libido that fell off a cliff.
includes this + 9 more markers · built for women — Irregular or absent periods, acne, unwanted hair growth, scalp thinning, difficulty losing weight, or you've been told 'probably PCOS' without a workup.
Would you feel it? Symptoms Androstenedione helps explain
People rarely search for a marker — they search for how they feel. These are the complaints where this marker is worth checking, and whether it is a first-line test or a follow-up once the obvious causes are ruled out.
Why your Androstenedione might be wrong
Most abnormal results are interference, not disease. These are the things that measurably move this specific marker — check them before you change anything. Each one says whether the number is wrong and should be repeated, badly timed and should be redrawn, or real with a cause worth explaining.
Follows a daily rhythm with a morning peak, so a value drawn at 8am and one drawn at 2pm are not comparable numbers.
Draw between 7 and 9am, and use the same window every time you retest.
Varies severalfold across a normal cycle, so a result without a cycle day attached is close to uninterpretable.
Note the cycle day. Day 3 for the follicular baseline; seven days after ovulation for the luteal phase.
Comes from both adrenal and gonadal sources, so it moves with stress and with the cycle at once.
Interpret alongside DHEA-S and 17-OHP rather than alone.
What Androstenedione means in combination
A single marker tells you a little. Combinations tell you the story — these are the named patterns this marker takes part in, and what each one points at.
Points upstream of the ovary. Markedly raised 17-OHP suggests non-classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia, which is routinely mislabelled as PCOS and managed the wrong way for years.
An 8am 17-OHP is the discriminating test — this is worth getting right, because NCAH and PCOS are treated differently. Bring it to an endocrinologist rather than treating it as PCOS by default.
What to test next
Markers rarely answer alone. These are the ones that put Androstenedione in context — each with its own full breakdown.
Frequently asked questions
40–150 ng/dL Ranges vary by laboratory and assay — always compare to the range printed on your own report.
Optimal ranges, root causes and the full correction protocol are available inside Coach Cam's Peptide Academy.
See the full breakdown inside the Academy.
See the full breakdown inside the Academy.
You can order Androstenedione directly through Marek Diagnostics without a doctor's visit — drawn at any Quest Diagnostics location in the US. Code CAMERON applies 10% off automatically.