Bioavailable Testosterone vs Free Testosterone

**DaRoq** · 02-05-2012, 10:45 PM

When getting my blood tests the last time, I referred my PCP to Dr. Crisler's paper, "TRT: A Recipe for Success". Using the INITIAL LABWORK section as a guide, he requested everything except PSA & Free Testosterone. PSA was because of my age; Free Testosterone because of the "if Bioavailable T is unavailable" in parentheses next to it. This leads me to believe that bioavailable is more important than free testosterone, which seems to make sense when you observe that higher Albumin levels result in less free and more bioavailable T, whereas lower Albumin results in the opposite. So it looks like having more Albumin means less T can be bound to SHBG and made unavailable. But which of the cases below have the most optimal levels and might produce the best subjective benefits?

Lower Albumin, low SHBG, Optimal T:
Albumin: 3.5 g/dL
SHBG: 16.7 nmol/L
Total Testosterone: 750 ng/dL
Free Testosterone: 27 ng/dL = 3.6 %
Bioavailable Testosterone: 520 ng/dL = 69.4 %

Mid-level Albumin, low SHBG, Optimal T:
Albumin: 4.4 g/dL
SHBG: 16.7 nmol/L
Total Testosterone: 750 ng/dL
Free Testosterone: 22.6 ng/dL = 3.01 %
Bioavailable Testosterone: 541 ng/dL = 72.2 %

High Albumin, low SHBG, Optimal T:
Albumin: 5.5 g/dL
SHBG: 16.7 nmol/L
Total Testosterone: 750 ng/dL
Free Testosterone: 18.9 ng/dL = 2.52 %
Bioavailable Testosterone: 562 ng/dL = 74.9 %

Here is more info I read with regard to Albumin:

Low levels of androgens, such as testosterone, are linked to low serum albumin. Your blood needs to have the right albumin concentration to adequately regulate the movement of water between your tissues and your blood. The proper movement of water is vital to the transport and delivery of nutrients, hormones, vitamins and minerals throughout your body.

This is probably noob stuff for many on here, but interesting to me. It suggests to me that the exogenuous test we introduce might not make it into the bloodstream without optimal Albumin levels.