What is androgen insensitivity syndrome?

Currently, many men suffer from androgen insensitivity syndrome, but they are very confused about this type of disease, and then blindly take medicine for treatment, which causes the condition to worsen and eventually turn into other diseases. For the disease, I have to treat the symptoms with the right medicine. So what is androgen insensitivity syndrome?

Androgen insensitivity syndrome is an X-linked recessive genetic disease with a 46,XY chromosome karyotype. It is a male pseudohermaphroditism. Its testosterone and urine 17-ketone are normal male values. The gonads in the body are testes. Due to the lack of 5a reductase in the vulvar tissue, testosterone cannot be converted into dihydrotestosterone, or due to the lack of dihydrotestosterone receptors, and the androgen effect cannot be expressed, resulting in vulvar feminization. 1. Complete androgen insensitivity: They have lived as females since childhood. Some patients may seek medical treatment due to labia majora or groin masses in infancy. Sometimes during hernia repair surgery, the hernia contents are found to be testicles. The clinical manifestations in adulthood are relatively consistent: primary amenorrhea, female body shape, breast development during puberty, but poor nipple development, no or sparse pubic and axillary hair, poor development of female vulva, labia majora and minora, blind vagina, no cervix and uterus, and no menstruation in artificial cycles. The gonads can be located in the labia majora, inguinal cleft or abdominal cavity, and patients often seek medical treatment due to primary amenorrhea, labia majora or inguinal masses.

During the embryonic period, the testosterone secreted by the interstitial cells of the testes of AIS patients cannot stimulate the development of the Müllerian ducts to form male internal genitalia due to abnormal androgen receptors. Dihydrotestosterone has no effect on the urogenital sinus and external genitalia, resulting in differentiation into the lower vagina and female vulva. The supporting cells of the testes can secrete normal MIS, and the Müllerian ducts are inhibited without fallopian tubes, uterus, cervix and upper vagina. After reaching puberty, due to the complete lack of androgen inhibition, a small amount of estrogen can lead to breast development and female body shape. Studies have found that AIS patients are 10 times more sensitive to estrogen than normal men.

2. Incomplete androgen insensitivity: The clinical manifestations of this type of patients vary greatly. The main difference from the complete type is that there are varying degrees of masculinization, including enlarged clitoris and partial fusion of labia, and development of pubic and axillary hair during puberty. An X-linked familial disease has been reported, mainly manifested by perineal scrotal hypospadias, breast agenesis and infertility, which is now found to be caused by androgen receptor defects. Androgen receptor abnormalities have also been found in patients with normal male phenotypes but only primary infertility and azoospermia or oligospermia.

The above is an analysis of androgen insensitivity syndrome. As men, we should pay attention to it. Androgen is the foundation of a man, and we should have a deep understanding of this kind of problem. Androgen insensitivity syndrome also has familial inheritance, so as men, we should pay more attention to this problem.