Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) Test

Dihydrotestosterone is not made directly by the testes or ovaries. It is converted from testosterone by an enzyme called 5-alpha-reductase, which is concentrated in skin, hair follicles, the prostate, and the liver. Because that conversion happens in tissue, DHT is often described as a local-action hormone: it exerts a strong effect where it is produced, and only some of it circulates back into the bloodstream where a blood test can measure it.

That conversion step is what makes DHT interesting to clinicians. Two people can have similar testosterone measurements and still handle androgens quite differently depending on how actively their tissues convert the hormone. A DHT measurement adds information about that conversion rather than repeating what testosterone already showed.

The sample is a routine blood draw at a Quest patient service center. Preparation is usually minimal, though a morning collection is common since androgens follow a daily rhythm. You order the test online, pay the cash price listed on this page, and take the requisition to the lab — the physician's order is included, so no doctor's visit is required first and no insurance is billed.

People who look into DHT are frequently exploring androgen-related questions that testosterone alone did not settle. That includes patterned scalp hair thinning, persistent adult acne or very oily skin, unwanted facial or body hair, and questions about prostate health in men. Clinicians sometimes order it when someone is taking or considering a medication that acts on the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme, since that pathway is exactly what such medications work on.

It is also ordered as part of a fuller androgen review in people whose symptoms and testosterone measurements do not seem to line up. In that setting the value of DHT is the extra dimension it adds — the conversion step — rather than a stand-alone verdict about anything.

Testosterone is the raw material; DHT is what some tissues convert it into. Once formed, DHT attaches to androgen receptors more tightly than testosterone does, which is why it has an outsized influence in the tissues that make it. In practical terms, testosterone describes supply and DHT describes how strongly that supply is being amplified locally.

This is why the two measurements answer different questions. A person can have unremarkable testosterone and still show androgen-driven changes in skin or hair, and that mismatch is often what prompts a clinician to look at DHT.

A blood test reports the DHT circulating in the sample. It does not report how much DHT a particular hair follicle or the prostate is producing on the spot, because much of the hormone acts locally before reaching the bloodstream. That limitation is worth knowing so the result is understood for what it is.

For that reason clinicians interpret DHT as one contributor to a broader androgen picture, weighed together with symptoms, physical findings, medications, and family history. A number by itself does not explain hair loss or acne, and it is not used to settle any question on its own.

DHT is often reviewed next to total and free testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin, and sometimes DHEA sulfate or estradiol. Together these describe how much androgen is present, how much is available to tissues, how much is being converted, and how much is being aromatized into estrogen — four different links in the same chain.

Seen as a set, the markers give a clinician a working map of androgen activity. Which of them are worth ordering depends entirely on the question being asked, and that is a conversation worth having before testing.

This test is available to order online at a flat cash price shown beside the order button. No insurance is billed, there is no membership, and the physician's order is arranged for you. Collection happens at a Quest patient service center, typically without an appointment, and results are returned to you securely.

Results will be emailed securely to you as a PDF.