NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men with Huntington’s disease (HD) have lower testosterone levels than men without the condition, Greek researchers report.
Among a group of men aged 26 to 76 with the disease, 59.5% had testosterone levels below 3.0 nanograms/milliliter, while 35.7% had levels below 2.0 ng/ml, constituting secondary hypogonadism. Levels of the hormone also were tied to the severity of HD symptoms and to dementia.
“Clinical studies with selected HD patients are needed to evaluate possible beneficial effects of androgen substitution therapy on cognitive functions, depression, muscle mass and strength, general well being and, eventually, neuroprotective effects,” Dr. Manolis Markianos of Athens University Hospital Medical School and colleagues conclude in the April issue of the Annals of Neurology.
Low levels of the hormone have been found in men with certain neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, Dr. Markianos and his team point out. And several HD symptoms such as loss of muscle and bone mass and depression also occur among hypogonadic men, they add.
To investigate, the researchers measured levels of plasma testosterone in 42 men with HD and 44 healthy age-matched controls, along with leuteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels.
HD patients had significantly lower levels of testosterone than the healthy men, averaging 3.05 ng/ml compared to 4.91 ng/ml. Less than 10% of the healthy men had testosterone levels below 3.0 ng/ml.
Among the HD patients, the researchers found a significant negative association between testosterone levels and disease severity as measured by both the Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale and the HD Total Functional Capacity Score.
The researchers then looked for a relationship between testosterone levels and dementia, depression or psychosis, and found hormone levels were only significantly linked to dementia.
A decrease in LH levels was seen among the HD patients, which was more severe among those with mild to moderate disease.
“The proposed direct neural hypothalamic-testicular pathway that interferes with synthesis and secretion of testosterone in the Leydig cells, independent of the pituitary, should be kept in mind, especially for explaining the great reductions in testosterone in patients with severe symptomology, in whom LH levels were found to be normal,” the researchers note.
The percentage of men with low testosterone was close to the reported 63% of HD patients with hypoactive sexual disorder, they add.
“In view of the results of this study, clinical trials on androgen substitution in selected male HD patients, taking into account possible side effects and relevant recommendations, appear to be justified,” the researchers conclude.
Source: Ann Neurol 2005;57:520-525. [ Google search on this article ]
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