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COVID-19 may deplete testosterone, helping to explain male patients' poorer prognosis
A study of patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 suggests that the disease might deteriorate men's testosterone levels. The study found that as men's testosterone level at baseline decreases, the probability for them to be in the intensive care unit (ICU) significantly increases.
www.sciencedaily.com
COVID-19 may deplete testosterone, helping to explain male patients' poorer prognosis
Over half of male patients studied were found to have lower than their normal testosterone levels
Summary: A study of patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 suggests that the disease might deteriorate men's testosterone levels. The study found that as men's testosterone level at baseline decreases, the probability for them to be in the intensive care unit (ICU) significantly increases.
For the first time, data from a study with patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 suggest that the disease might deteriorate men's testosterone levels.
Publishing their results in the peer-reviewed journal The Aging Male, experts from the University of Mersin and the Mersin City Education And Research Hospital in Turkey found as men's testosterone level at baseline decreases, the probability for them to be in the intensive care unit (ICU) significantly increases.
Lead author Selahittin Çayan, Professor of Urology, states that while it has already been reported that low testosterone levels could be a cause for poor prognosis following a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, this is the first study to show that COVID-19 itself depletes testosterone.
It is hoped that the development could help to explain why so many studies have found that male prognosis is worse than those females with COVID-19, and therefore to discover a possible improvement in clinical outcomes using testosterone-based treatments.
"Testosterone is associated with the immune system of respiratory organs, and low levels of testosterone might increase the risk of respiratory infections. Low testosterone is also associated with infection-related hospitalization and all-cause mortality in males in ICU patients, so testosterone treatment may also have benefits beyond improving outcomes for COVID-19," Professor Çayan explains.
"In our study, the mean total testosterone decreased, as the severity of the COVID-19 increased. The mean total testosterone level was significantly lower in the ICU group than in the asymptomatic group. In addition, the mean total testosterone level was significantly lower in the ICU group than in the Intermediate Care Unit group. The mean serum follicle-stimulating hormone level was significantly higher in the ICU group than in the asymptomatic group.
"We found Hypogonadism -- a condition in which the body doesn't produce enough testosterone -in 113 (51.1%) of the male patients.
"The patients who died had significantly lower mean total testosterone than the patients who were alive.
"However, even 65.2% of the 46 male patients who were asymptomatic had a loss of loss of libido."
*The limitations of this study include it not including a control group of patients with conditions other than COVID-19, this was due to the restrictions placed on the hospital that they were monitoring the patients in.
