OBJECTIVES: To explore the associations between frailty and reproductive axis hormones (as an important regulatory system) in middle aged and older men. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: The European Male Aging Study. PARTICIPANTS: Three thousand two hundred nineteen community-dwelling European men aged 40 to 79. MEASUREMENTS: Interviewer-assisted questionnaires to assess physical activity, health status, and mood were administered. Testosterone (T), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were measured in a fasting morning blood sample. Frailty was assessed as an index (FI) according to the number (out of 43 possible) of health deficits (symptoms, signs, and functional impairments). Relationships between FI and hormone levels (as outcomes) were explored using regression models. RESULTS: Mean FI was 0.12 ± 0.11 (range 0-0.67) was highest in the oldest group. After adjustment for confounders, higher levels of FI were significantly associated with lower levels of total T, free T, and DHEAS and higher levels of gonadotropins and SHBG; a 1-standard deviation cross-sectional increase in FI was associated with a regression coefficient of -0.30 nmol/L (95% confidence interval (CI)=-0.53 to -0.07) decrease in total T and 0.66 U/L (95% CI=0.48-0.83) increase in LH. CONCLUSIONS: The associations between high FI, high gonadotropins, and well-maintained circulating T suggest that these changes are markers of aging-related disruptions of multiple physiological regulation, of which alterations in pituitary-testicular function represent a sensitive marker rather than an underlying pathogenic mechanism for frailty.

Frailty in relation to variations in hormone levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis in older men: results from the European male aging study / Tajar A; O'Connell MD; Mitnitski AB; O'Neill TW; Searle SD; Huhtaniemi IT; Finn JD; Bartfai G; Boonen S; Casanueva FF; Forti G; Giwercman A; Han TS; Kula K; Labrie F; Lean ME; Pendleton N; Punab M; Silman AJ; Vanderschueren D; Rockwood K; Wu FC; European Male Aging Study Group. - In: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY. - ISSN 0002-8614. - STAMPA. - 59:(2011), pp. 814-821. [10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03398.x.]

Frailty in relation to variations in hormone levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis in older men: results from the European male aging study.

FORTI, GIANNI;
2011

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To explore the associations between frailty and reproductive axis hormones (as an important regulatory system) in middle aged and older men. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: The European Male Aging Study. PARTICIPANTS: Three thousand two hundred nineteen community-dwelling European men aged 40 to 79. MEASUREMENTS: Interviewer-assisted questionnaires to assess physical activity, health status, and mood were administered. Testosterone (T), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were measured in a fasting morning blood sample. Frailty was assessed as an index (FI) according to the number (out of 43 possible) of health deficits (symptoms, signs, and functional impairments). Relationships between FI and hormone levels (as outcomes) were explored using regression models. RESULTS: Mean FI was 0.12 ± 0.11 (range 0-0.67) was highest in the oldest group. After adjustment for confounders, higher levels of FI were significantly associated with lower levels of total T, free T, and DHEAS and higher levels of gonadotropins and SHBG; a 1-standard deviation cross-sectional increase in FI was associated with a regression coefficient of -0.30 nmol/L (95% confidence interval (CI)=-0.53 to -0.07) decrease in total T and 0.66 U/L (95% CI=0.48-0.83) increase in LH. CONCLUSIONS: The associations between high FI, high gonadotropins, and well-maintained circulating T suggest that these changes are markers of aging-related disruptions of multiple physiological regulation, of which alterations in pituitary-testicular function represent a sensitive marker rather than an underlying pathogenic mechanism for frailty.
2011
59
814
821
Tajar A; O'Connell MD; Mitnitski AB; O'Neill TW; Searle SD; Huhtaniemi IT; Finn JD; Bartfai G; Boonen S; Casanueva FF; Forti G; Giwercman A; Han TS; Kula K; Labrie F; Lean ME; Pendleton N; Punab M; Silman AJ; Vanderschueren D; Rockwood K; Wu FC; European Male Aging Study Group
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Utilizza questo identificatore per citare o creare un link a questa risorsa: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/957145
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