b-Pregnanediol is a metabolite of progesterone.
Progesterone is present in men but at a much lower level than found in premenopausal women. Progesterone is known as a female hormone, but males need progesterone to produce testosterone. Its function involves the development of sperm.
Pregnanediol is the major progesterone metabolite, and is present in appreciable quantities in the urine. Progesterone is not excreted in urine in detectable quantities. Thus, values of progesterone are very well “tracked” by pregnanediol values, and this value is an adequate reflection of free progesterone.
Beta– and alpha–Pregnanediol are usually used as surrogate markers, because they are the most abundant metabolites.
Natural production by the testes and adrenals in men starts to decrease with aging and can lead to an imbalance, not only of progesterone, but also lead to decreased testosterone and an increase of estrogen.
References:
-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15669543
-http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/166820/1/Prog.%20Neurobiol%202014.pdf
b-Pregnanediol (male)
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