Circulating bioactive androgens in midlife women.

Context: It is important to characterize the biological activity of circulating androgenic steroid hormones during the menopausal transition because these appear to impact the metabolic and cardiovascular health risk factors of women.

Objective: The objective of the study was to develop and characterize a cell-based bioassay that measures the androgen receptor-mediated signal transduction in serum.

Design: This was a clinically relevant experimental study nested in a sample population of a longitudinal cohort study.