Variation and ageing pattern of free steroid hormone levels among Japanese

对15-90岁日本人的唾液睾酮水平进行了分析，以了解唾液睾酮水平的变异性和衰老模式。研究结果表明：1)日本男性唾液游离睾酮水平男女差异显著；2)日本男性唾液游离睾酮水平的衰老模式与狩猎采集者不同，从20多岁到40多岁呈显著下降趋势。但这也与西方工业化国家的不同之处在于，40岁后不会出现任何明显的下降。3)日本男性的昼夜波动减少并不明显，这在西方国家的老年男性中很常见。有许多60-70岁的男性表现出明显的T-昼夜波动。他们可能维持着健康的神经内分泌系统。4)除了睾酮水平极低的男性得分较高外，没有发现心理旋转分数和游离睾酮水平之间的明显关联。5)在90岁的男性中，迷你心理状态与自由睾酮水平呈正相关。

Salivary testosterone levels were analyzed for 15-90 year-old-Japanese in order to understand the variability and ageing patterns. Findings are as follows :1) The variation in salivary free testosterone levels (T) among Japanese for the both sexes is significant.2) The aging pattern in T among Japanese males is different from those of hunter-gatherers in showing a significant decrease from 20s to 40s. But it is also different from those of western industrialized countries in not showing any significant decrease after 40 years old.3) Decrease in diurnal fluctuation which has been know to be common among old men in the western countries was not significant among Japanese males. There are many 60-70 year-old males who show significant diurnal T-fluctuation. Probably they maintain healthy neuro-endocrinological systems.4) There is no clear association found between mental rotation scores and free testosterone levels for both sexes, except that males with extremely low testosterone levels scored high.5) There is a positive association between Mini-Mental-State and free T in 90-year-old males.