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Testosterone
levels and bone mineral density in young healthy men and in
young infertile patients
by Michal Karasek, Jan Wieslaw Kochanski, Jadwiga Bierowiec,
Jacek Suzin & Jacek Swietoslawski
Keywords:
testosterone, bone mineral density, osteoporosis, infertility
Abstract:
OBJECTIVES. Although relatively little information exists concerning
bone mineral density (BMD) in men, it has been demonstrated
that similarly to observations in women, BMD decreases also
with age in men, although to a smaller extent, and osteoporosis
is increasingly recognized. Most reports concentrate, however,
on men of advanced age. Therefore, we decided to investigate
BMD in young healthy volunteers and in young patients suffering
from infertility, and to compare it with serum tes-tosterone
levels.
MATERIAL
AND METHODS. The study was performed on 80 men divided into
two groups. The first group consisted of 39 young healthy men
(mean age 22.1±0.3 years; range 20-29). The second group consisted
of 41 infertile men with oligozoospermia (mean age 28.0±0.5
years; range 23-34). Serum testosterone levels and BMD were
measured in each subject.
RESULTS. Decrease in BMD (T-score below ñ0.3) was observed in
35.9% of the subjects in the group of young healthy men and
in 60.9% of the subjects in the group of infertile patients.
Among these numbers osteopenia (T-score between ñ1 and ñ2.5)
was found in 4 subjects (10.3%) in the group of young healthy
men and in 13 subjects (31.7%) in the group of infertile patients.
There was a positive correlation between testosterone concentrations
and BMD as well as T-score both in healthy subjects and in infertile
patients.
CONCLUSION. Results of the present study indicate that attention
should be paid to testosterone deficiency in the young age in
terms of the potential risk of decreased bone mineral density
in the advanced age.
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