androstenedione

noun

an·​dro·​stene·​di·​one ˌan-drə-ˌstēn-ˈdī-ōn  -ˈstēn-dē-ˌōn 

: a steroid sex hormone C₁₉H₂₆O₂ that is secreted by the testes, ovaries, and adrenal cortex and is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of testosterone and estrogen

Examples of androstenedione in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In most women my age, the concentration of androstenedione, a precursor to testosterone, is between thirty and two hundred and eighty-five nanograms per decilitre. —S. C. Cornell, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2023

Those given the drug had significantly lower levels of the hormone androstenedione after four weeks, which was the study’s main endpoint. —Jonathan Wosen, STAT, 5 Oct. 2023

Mark McGwire, who admitted to taking androstenedione, a steroid, received 12.3% of the votes in 2016, his final year on the ballot. —Evan Petzold, USA TODAY, 28 Jan. 2022

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Androstendion, from Androsteron androsterone + -en -ene + -dion -dione ("a chemical compound containing two carbonyl groups," from di- + -one)

Note: The name was introduced by the Croatian-Swiss chemist Leopold Ružička (1887-1976) and the Swiss chemist Albert Wettstein (1907-74) in "Sexualhormone V. Künstliche Herstellung des männlichen Sexualhormons trans-Dehydro-androsteron und des Androsten-3,17-dions," Helvetica Chimica Acta, vol. 18, no. 1 (1935), pp. 986-94.

First Known Use

1935, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

androstenedione

noun

an·​dro·​stene·​di·​one ˌan-drə-ˌstēn-ˈdī-ˌōn  -ˈstēn-dē-ˌōn 

: a steroid sex hormone C₁₉H₂₆O₂ that is secreted by the testes, ovaries, and adrenal cortex and is a precursor of testosterone and estrogen