This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Reduced sexual function may cause decreases in serum testosterone
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Decline in sexual activity and desire, but not erectile function, was consistently associated with reduced serum testosterone levels in older men, according to research published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Although the observational findings do not prove causality, the slight degree of decrease seen in serum testosterone suggests that diminished sexual function could actually reduce the reproductive hormone rather than the opposite, according to researchers.
“In the light of placebo-controlled clinical trials that find little effect of testosterone therapy on male sexual function in the absence of reproductive system disorders and the small magnitude of the decrease in serum testosterone compared with that required to impair sexual function in older men, we propose the hypothesis that declines in sexual activity and desire in older men may be important contributors to the lowering of circulating testosterone levels,” the researchers wrote.
Benjumin Hsu, MPH, a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and colleagues looked at men aged at least 70 years from the longitudinal, observational Concord Health and Aging in Men Project (CHAMP) investigating the epidemiology of male aging within three local government areas.
The researchers assessed the men at baseline (n = 1,705) and 2-year follow-up (n = 1,367) to assess associations between reproductive hormones and sexual function; 1,226 men were included in the final analyses.
The team used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to measure serum testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, estradiol and estrone, and immunoassay to measure sex hormone-binding globulin, luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone.
Sexual functions, including erectile function, sexual activity and sexual desire, were reported by participants through a standardized questionnaire.
Baseline testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, estradiol and estrone did not predict decline in sexual function. Reductions in serum testosterone during 2 years were strongly linked to change in sexual activity and desire, but not erectile function; this was not the case for dihydrotestosterone, estradiol and estrone.
For each standard deviation decrease in testosterone from baseline to follow-up, an additional risk for further decline in sexual activity existed (multivariate-adjusted OR = 1.23; 95% CI, 1.12-1.36), but the degree of decrease in serum testosterone was slight (< 10%).
Similar associations were seen for serum testosterone changes during 2 years and decline in sexual desire, but not for erectile function.
“Further studies aiming to test this hypothesis are warranted,” the researchers wrote. – by Allegra Tiver
Disclosure: One of the researchers reports receiving an honorarium from Eli Lilly Australia for an education event.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts