Journal
ASIAN JOURNAL OF ANDROLOGY
Volume 16, Issue 2, Pages 223-231Publisher
WOLTERS KLUWER MEDKNOW PUBLICATIONS
DOI: 10.4103/1008-682X.122365
Keywords
androgens; hypogonadism; obesity; testosterone; weight loss
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Funding
- National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Career Development Fellowship [1024139]
- National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Postgraduate Research Scholarship [1055305]
- Bourse du Comite des Medecins, Dentistes et Pharmaciens du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Quebec
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With increasing modernization and urbanization of Asia, much of the future focus of the obesity epidemic will be in the Asian region. Low testosterone levels are frequently encountered in obese men who do not otherwise have a recognizable hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular (HPT) axis pathology. Moderate obesity predominantly decreases total testosterone due to insulin resistance-associated reductions in sex hormone binding globulin. More severe obesity is additionally associated with reductions in free testosterone levels due to suppression of the HPT axis. Low testosterone by itself leads to increasing adiposity, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of metabolic complications. Obesity-associated hypotestosteronemia is a functional, non-permanent state, which can be reversible, but this requires substantial weight loss. While testosterone treatment can lead to moderate reductions in fat mass, obesity by itself, in the absence of symptomatic androgen deficiency, is not an established indication for testosterone therapy. Testosterone therapy may lead to a worsening of untreated sleep apnea and compromise fertility. Whether testosterone therapy augments diet- and exercise-induced weight loss requires evaluation in adequately designed randomized controlled clinical trials.
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