scholarly journals Testosterone profile in older men with Alzheimer's disease

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-293
Author(s):  
Cristiana Roscito Arenella Dusi ◽  
Lílian Schafirovits Morillo ◽  
Regina Miksian Magaldi ◽  
Adriana Nunes Machado ◽  
Sami Liberman ◽  
...  

Abstract Evidence suggests low testosterone levels in Alzheimer's disease. Objectives: To compare testosterone levels between older men with and without Alzheimer's disease. Methods: Fourteen men with Alzheimer's disease were compared with twenty eight men without dementia. Demographic variables and clinical profiles were analyzed. Within fifteen days before or after the described evaluation, measures of total testosterone and Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) were performed. Free testosterone level was calculated based on total testosterone and SHBG. Quantitative variables were analyzed using Student's t test or Kruskal-Wallis test, while qualitative variables were analyzed using chi-square or Fisher test. Results: Mean age in the Control and Alzheimer's disease groups were 72.0 (SD±4.8) years and 79.3(SD±5.9) years, respectively (p=0.001). Mean schooling between these two groups were 8.78 and (±5.86) years, respectively (p=0.022). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups for testosterone levels, although a trend was observed for the Alzheimer's disease group to present lower levels than the control group (p=0.066). There was no direct correlation between free testosterone and age, although a trend was evident (p=0.068). Conclusions: There was no significant difference in testosterone between men with AD and those without dementia.

2008 ◽  
Vol 158 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Els Elaut ◽  
Griet De Cuypere ◽  
Petra De Sutter ◽  
Luk Gijs ◽  
Michael Van Trotsenburg ◽  
...  

ObjectiveAn unknown proportion of transsexual women (defined as post-operative male-to-female transsexuals on oestrogen replacement) experience hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD). It has been suggested that the absence of ovarian androgen production together with oestrogen treatment-related increase in sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels could be leading to HSDD, due to low levels of biologically available testosterone. This study wishes to document the HSDD prevalence among transsexual women and the possible association to androgen levels.DesignCross-sectional study.MethodsTranssexual women (n=62) and a control group of ovulating women (n=30) participated in this study. Questionnaires measuring sexual desire (sexual desire inventory) and relationship and sexual satisfaction (Maudsley Marital Questionnaire) were completed. Serum levels of total testosterone, LH and SHBG were measured in blood samples obtained at random in transsexual women and in the early follicular phase in ovulating women.ResultsThe transsexual group had lower levels of total and calculated free testosterone (both P<0.001) than the ovulating women. HSDD was reported in 34% of the transsexual and 23% of the ovulating women (P=0.30). Both groups reported similar levels of sexual desire (P=0.97). For transsexual women, no significant correlation was found between sexual desire and total (P=0.64) or free testosterone (P=0.82). In ovulating women, these correlations were significant (P=0.006, resp. P=0.003).ConclusionsHSDD is reported in one-third of transsexual women. This prevalence is not substantially different from controls, despite markedly lower (free) testosterone levels, which argues against a major role of testosterone in this specific group.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 139-45
Author(s):  
Fariba Karimi ◽  
Afshin Borhani Haghighi ◽  
Payman Petramfar ◽  
Arnoosh Afreidoon

Backgrounds: Increasing age is the most significant risk factor for Alzheimerʾs disease and depletion of sex hormones is an important consequence of normal aging. This study aimed to investigate the serum level of sex hormones and gonadotropins in patients with Alzheimerʾs disease in comparison with the control group. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted between October 2010 and November 2011 in Shiraz Mottahari Clinic. Fifty-one patients with Alzheimer’s disease and 49 age-matched volunteers without dementia participated in this survey. Both groups were evaluated by two neurologists according to DSM- IV criteria. Blood samples were taken after 12 hours fasting to measure serum levels of estradiol, testosterone, gonadotropins and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). Results: Eighteen females and 33 males in the patient group, and 23 females and 26 males in the control group participated. There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding their gonadotropins, estradiol, free androgen index and body mass index, but the mean level of SHBG in patients was significantly higher than the control group (P=0.03). In addition, male patients had a higher total testosterone mean compared to male subjects in the control group (P=0.02). Conclusion: Our findings regarding testosterone levels in males of two groups were contrary to some of the previous surveys in this area. Moreover, we found higher levels of SHBG in patients compared to the control subjects. Further investigation is needed to define whether and how changes of sex hormones can affect brain health and vulnerability to Alzheimer’s disease.[GMJ.2015;4(4):139-45]


2007 ◽  
Vol 156 (5) ◽  
pp. 585-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bu B Yeap ◽  
Osvaldo P Almeida ◽  
Zoë Hyde ◽  
Paul E Norman ◽  
S A Paul Chubb ◽  
...  

Objective: An age-related decline in serum total and free testosterone concentration may contribute to ill health in men, but limited data are available for men > 70 years of age. We sought to determine the distribution and associations of reduced testosterone concentrations in older men. Design: The Health in Men Study is a community-representative prospective cohort investigation of 4263 men aged ≥ 70 years. Cross-sectional hormone data from 3645 men were analysed. Methods: Early morning sera were assayed for total testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and LH. Free testosterone was calculated using the Vermeulen method. Results: Mean (± s.d.) serum total testosterone was 15.4 ± 5.6 nmol/l (444 ± 162 ng/dl), SHBG 42.4 ± 16.7 nmol/l and free testosterone 278 ± 96 pmol/l (8.01 ± 2.78 ng/dl). Total testosterone correlated with SHBG (Spearman’s r = 0.6, P < 0.0001). LH and SHBG increased with age (r = 0.2, P < 0.0001 for both). Instead of declining, total testosterone increased marginally (r = 0.04, P = 0.007) whilst free testosterone declined with age (r = −0.1, P < 0.0001). Free testosterone was inversely correlated with LH (r = −0.1, P < 0.0001). In multivariate analyses, increasing age, body mass index (BMI) and LH were associated with lower free testosterone. Conclusions: In men aged 70–89 years, modulation of androgen action may occur via an age-related increase in SHBG and reduction in free testosterone without a decline in total testosterone concentration. Increasing age, BMI and LH are independently associated with lower free testosterone. Further investigation would be required to assess the clinical consequences of low serum free testosterone, particularly in older men in whom total testosterone may be preserved.


2005 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liana Lisboa Fernandez ◽  
Rosane Machado Scheibe

BACKGROUND: The role of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphisms as risk factors for the occurence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is still controversial: OBJECTIVE: To verify the association between MTHFR and apolipoprotein E (APOE) polymorphisms and Alzheimer's disease. METHOD: This work was conducted as a case-control study. Cases included thirty patients with probable AD. Controls were constituted by 29 individuals without dementia according to neuropsychological tests paired to age, sex, race and educational level. DNA was isolated from peripheral leukocytes of anticoagulated venous blood. Genotyping of APOE and MTHFR were performed by DNA amplification and digestion. The frequences of APOE and MTHFR genotypes were submitted by chi-square test corrected by Fisher test; the APOE genotypes, to chi-square linear tendency test and the frequences of MTHFR mutant and AD, by stratificated anlysis adjust by Mantel-Haenszel method. RESULTS: There was significant difference about APOE4 and APOE2 in the groups. (p=0.002) The odds ratio increased exponentially with the increased number of E4 allele (chi2 linear tendency test). No significant difference was detected on MTHFR genotypes in both case and control groups. CONCLUSION: The APOE4 is a risk factor and demonstrated a dose-depenent effect while APOE2 allele conferred a protection to AD. The MTHFR mutation had no correlation with AD.


1982 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 464-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. G. Semple ◽  
G. H. Beastall ◽  
I. S. Henderson ◽  
J. A. Thomson ◽  
A. C. Kennedy

Abstract. Pituitary-testicular function was evaluated in 18 patients with chronic renal failure, 9 treated by maintenance haemodialysis (HD) and 9 by continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), and compared with a non-uraemic control group. Serum total testosterone and the free testosterone index were significantly low in both dialysis groups. Basal FSH and LH levels were elevated but this reached significance only with regard to LH. The responses of both FSH and LH to the iv administration of LRH were normal. There was no significant difference between the CAPD and HD groups in any of the hormonal parameters estimated. While CAPD may improve control of some metabolic parameters when compared with HD, it does not improve the function of the pituitary-testicular axis.


2008 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. T333-T333
Author(s):  
Cristiana R. Arenella Dusi ◽  
Lílian S. Morillo ◽  
Regina M. Magaldi ◽  
Adriana N. Machado ◽  
Sami Liberman ◽  
...  

F1000Research ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 671
Author(s):  
Glaucia Renee Hilgemberg ◽  
Aline Jacoski de Oliveira Krüger da Silva ◽  
Bárbara Luisa Fermino ◽  
Camila Diedrich ◽  
Simone Carla Benincá ◽  
...  

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, with a multifactorial etiology, in which the person has great difficulty identifying feelings of hunger, satiety, and feeding, which may affect their nutritional status. Pathologically, it is associated with neurodegeneration of synapses followed by neuronal loss, accompanied by glial proliferation surrounded by neurofibrillary tangles, beta-amyloid peptide (Aβ) deposition, inflammation and cerebrovascular injury hindering the ability to perform activities of daily living. This study aimed to analyze quantitatively the differences between an elderly group with AD and a control group, in terms of macro and micronutrient consumption evaluation. Methods: the study involved 69 participants who were assessed via collection of anthropometric measurements (weight, height and body mass index) with nutritional status being assessed by 24-hour food recall and three-day food record. Cognitive assessments were performed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Ranting (CDR). Results: The intake of lipids in patients with severe dementia, was lower (p <0.05). The consumption of proteins showed a decrease with demential advance. For vitamins, there was a significant difference (p <0.05) in the amount of thiamine, niacin, vitamin D, E and K and calcium, chromium and iodine minerals, which were significantly reduced in AD patients (p <0.05). Conclusions: Decreases in macronutrient and micronutrient consumption may result in a consequent impairment of nutritional status, dementia progression, and decreased quality and life expectancy of elderly patients with AD.


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