Endocrine Abstracts

The aim: To investigate the prevalence of subclinical late-onset hypogonadism (SLOH) in men with diabetes type 2 and relationship between testosterone concentrations and duration of diabetes.

Material and methods: We investigated 114 men with DT 2 aged from 45–60 years (M±SD 54.0±4.63). Luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), total testosterone (T), calculated free testosterone (cFT) and bioavailable testosterone (bT), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), the T/LH ratio, HbA1C, BMI were all determined. Control group included 25 healthy men age from 45–60 years. All of men were treated with oral antidiabetic drugs or insulin. LOH was expected on the basis of low testosterone concentration (≤5.9 nmol/l) and the index T/LH≤1.

Results: The mean of duration of DT2 was 8.52±5.89 years. The TT level was lower in diabetic men compared with control group (6.05±2.65 vs 11.8±5.14 nmol/l). The mean T/LH ratio was 2.47±2.67. Of 62% of men had testosterone levels lower 5.9 nmol/l but only 30% had T/LH ratio below 1. There was inverted correlation between the T/LH ratio and BMI (r=−0.24, P< 0,05), but not with duration of diabetes and age. The level of bT positive correlated with T/LH ratio (r=0.35, P<0.05).

Conclusions: In men with DT2 the prevalence of SLOH is about 62%, and it was more common then in population of men without diabetes. In all the patients with DT2 the possibility of SLOH should be investigated. In the other hand, men with SLOH also must be screening to exclude the symptoms of diabetes.