Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The syndrome of late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) is a clinical and biochemical syndrome associated with advancing age male, characterized by typical symptoms and decreased serum concentrations of testosterone, which can affect multiple organ systems and may impair quality of life. The prevalence of LOH syndrome is higher in certain patient groups, obese, diabetic and suffering from erectile dysfunction manifest LOH at higher rates than the general population.

Objective: Analyze the prevalence of androgenic deficit depending on total testosterone (TT), calculated free testosterone (cFT), and free androgen index (FAI) in a group of diabetics (DM2), prediabetics (PreD) and nondiabetics (ND).

Material and methods: TT analysis, albumin, and SHBG were performed on 207 samples of men, age 61.5±11.6 years attending in endocrinology consultation. The cFT is calculated using the formula of Vermeulen and also the FAI values obtained by dividing the value of TT by SHBG.

Results: Of the 207 males, 123 are DM2, 24 PreD and 60 ND. The prevalence of androgenic deficit as TT values is overt hypogonadism (TT<230 ng/dl) in 7.3, 12.5 and 3.3% (without significant differences between the three groups (NS)); mild hypogonadism (TT 230–350 ng/dl) in 31.7, 29.2 and 35%, (NS), and no evidence of hypogonadism (TT>350 ng/dl) in 61, 58.3 and 61.7% (NS).

In contrast, the prevalence of overt androgenic deficit according to the cFT (cFT<65 pg/ml) is 29.3, 16.7 and 21.7% (P<0.01, between the three groups). According to the FAI (it’s deficient if FAI <30), androgenic deficit was 24.4, 8.3 and 8.3% (P<0.001, between DM2 group and the other two groups).

Conclusions: Androgenic deficit is found not only in DM2, but also in PreD, so that it could constitute an independent predictor factor for metabolic syndrome and DM2 in middle-aged men.