Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2013 Feb 20;168(3):445-55.
doi: 10.1530/EJE-12-0890. Print 2013 Mar.

Age-associated changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular function in middle-aged and older men are modified by weight change and lifestyle factors: longitudinal results from the European Male Ageing Study

E M Camacho  1 , I T Huhtaniemi, T W O'Neill, J D Finn, S R Pye, D M Lee, A Tajar, G Bartfai, S Boonen, F F Casanueva, G Forti, A Giwercman, T S Han, K Kula, B Keevil, M E Lean, N Pendleton, M Punab, D Vanderschueren, F C W Wu; EMAS Group
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Age-associated changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular function in middle-aged and older men are modified by weight change and lifestyle factors: longitudinal results from the European Male Ageing Study

E M Camacho et al. Eur J Endocrinol. .

Abstract

Objective: Health and lifestyle factors are associated with variations in serum testosterone levels in ageing men. However, it remains unclear how age-related changes in testosterone may be attenuated by lifestyle modifications. The objective was to investigate the longitudinal relationships between changes in health and lifestyle factors with changes in hormones of the reproductive endocrine axis in ageing men.

Design: A longitudinal survey of 2736 community-dwelling men aged 40-79 years at baseline recruited from eight centres across Europe. Follow-up assessment occurred mean (±S.D.) 4.4±0.3 years later.

Results: Paired testosterone results were available for 2395 men. Mean (±S.D.) annualised hormone changes were as follows: testosterone -0.1±0.95 nmol/l; free testosterone (FT) -3.83±16.8 pmol/l; sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) 0.56±2.5 nmol/l and LH 0.08±0.57 U/l. Weight loss was associated with a proportional increase, and weight gain a proportional decrease, in testosterone and SHBG. FT showed a curvilinear relationship to weight change; only those who gained or lost ≥15% of weight showed a significant change (in the same direction as testosterone). Smoking cessation was associated with a greater decline in testosterone than being a non-smoker, which was unrelated to weight change. Changes in number of comorbid conditions or physical activity were not associated with significant alterations in hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular (HPT) axis function.

Conclusions: Body weight and lifestyle factors influence HPT axis function in ageing. Weight loss was associated with a rise, and weight gain a fall, in testosterone, FT and SHBG. Weight management appears to be important in maintaining circulating testosterone in ageing men, and obesity-associated changes in HPT axis hormones are reversible following weight reduction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms