Bone metabolism in men: role of aromatase activity.

[aromatase deficiency]

Sex steroid hormones play an important role in the maintenance of bone mass in males and in females . Even though androgens are the major sex steroids in men , direct and indirect evidence emerged suggesting that estrogens may also play a major role in male skeletal health . Since the testes account for only 15 % of circulating estrogens in males , the remaining 85 % comes from peripheral aromatization of androgen precursors in different tissues , including bone . Human models of aromatase deficiency clearly demonstrated the critical importance of the conversion of androgens into estrogens in regulating male skeletal homeostasis . Aromatase- deficient men showed tall stature due to continued longitudinal growth , unfused epiphyses , high bone turnover , and osteopenia . Interventional studies in adult men using aromatase inhibition confirmed that estrogens are important in controlling bone remodeling . Importantly either inherited (i .e . due to common polymorphisms at the human aromatase CYP 19 gene ) or acquired (i .e . by diseases or different compounds ) variation in aromatase ability to convert androgen precursors into estrogen may also be relevant for skeletal homeostasis .

Diseases
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Diseases presenting "deficient men" symptom

aromatase deficiency

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