The effects of age and obesity on postprandial dynamics of serum testosterone levels in men

Objective Guidelines recommend using fasting samples to evaluate testosterone (T) levels in men, as free and total T levels decrease postprandially. However, it is not clear whether these dynamics are affected by age or obesity. This could be relevant given the obesity epidemic, ageing population an...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical endocrinology (Oxford) Vol. 92; no. 3; pp. 214 - 221
Main Authors: Van de Velde, Frederique, Reyns, Tim, Toye, Kaatje, Fiers, Tom, Kaufman, Jean‐Marc, T'Sjoen, Guy, Lapauw, Bruno
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.03.2020
Subjects:
Adult
age
Aging
Aging - blood
Blood Glucose - analysis
Blood Glucose - metabolism
Globulins
Humans
Hypogonadism
Insulin - blood
Liquid chromatography
Male
Mass spectroscopy
Meals
men
Middle Aged
Obesity
Obesity - blood
postprandial
Postprandial Period - physiology
Serum levels
Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin - analysis
Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin - metabolism
Sex hormones
sex steroids
SHBG
Testosterone
Testosterone - blood
postprandial
sex steroids
testosterone
men
SHBG
age
obesity
ISSN:0300-0664, 1365-2265, 1365-2265
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective Guidelines recommend using fasting samples to evaluate testosterone (T) levels in men, as free and total T levels decrease postprandially. However, it is not clear whether these dynamics are affected by age or obesity. This could be relevant given the obesity epidemic, ageing population and the barrier for screening which fasting could impose. Design/Participants A total of 43 men underwent a solid mixed meal tolerance test. Serum samples were taken fasting, and at 30, 60 and 120 minutes postprandially. A commercial immunoassay was used to determine sex hormone‐binding globulin (SHBG) levels, liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectroscopy for total T concentrations and free T levels were calculated. Results Postprandially, both total and free T were lower at all‐time points compared with fasting (all, P < .005). At 60 minutes, maximum mean decreases of 15 ± 15% and 17 ± 16% were seen for total and free T levels, respectively. Younger men had greater decreases in both total and free T levels compared with men older than 40 years (all, P < .05). A greater decrease at 30 and 60 minutes postprandially was observed for both total and free T levels in nonobese vs obese men (all, P < .05). Conclusions After a mixed meal, total and free T serum levels decreased whereas SHBG levels did not change. Interestingly, postprandial decreases were less pronounced in men older than 40 years and/or with obesity. Although this study indicates less pronounced decreases in certain men, fasting samples remain a prerequisite for establishing correct diagnosis of male hypogonadism.
Bibliography:Funding information
The SMELSS study was supported by a grant from the Fund for Scientific Research—Flanders (FWO‐Vlaanderen, grant 1517316N).
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
content type line 23
ObjectType-Undefined-3
ISSN:0300-0664
1365-2265
1365-2265
DOI:10.1111/cen.14141