What is an SHBG blood test?
This test measures the levels of SHBG in your blood. SHBG stands for sex hormone binding globulin. It’s a protein made by the liver and attaches itself to sex hormones found in both men and women. These hormones are:
Testosterone, the main sex hormone in men
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), another male sex hormone
Estradiol, a form of estrogen, the main sex hormone in women
SHBG controls how much of these hormones are delivered to the body’s tissues. Although SHBG attaches to all three of these hormones, an SHBG test is mostly used to look at testosterone. SHBG levels can show if there is too much or too little testosterone being used by the body. What is it used for?
An SHBG test is most often used to find out how much testosterone is going to the body’s tissues. Testosterone levels can be measured in a separate test called total testosterone. This test shows how much testosterone is in the body, but not how much is being used by the body.
Sometimes a total testosterone test is enough to make a diagnosis. But some people have symptoms of too much or too little of the hormone that the total testosterone test results can’t explain. In these cases, an SHBG test may be ordered to provide more information about how much testosterone is available to the body.
