CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 456Hormonal and reproductive studiesBone health and osteoporosis researchMenopause: Health Impacts and Treatments

Effects of transdermal testosterone on bone and muscle in older men with low bioavailable testosterone levels

Kenny, A. M., Prestwood, K. M., Gruman, C. A., Marcello, K. M., Raisz, L. G.·2001·The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
DOI 10.1093/gerona/56.5.m266
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A large proportion of men over 65 years of age have bioavailable testosterone levels below the reference range of young adult men. The impact of this on musculoskeletal health and the potential for improvement in function in this group with testosterone supplementation require investigation. METHODS: Sixty-seven men (mean age 76 +/- 4 years, range 65--87) with bioavailable testosterone levels below 4.44 nmol/l (lower limit for adult normal range) were randomized to receive transdermal testosterone (two 2.5-mg patches per day) or placebo patches for 1 year. All men received 500 mg supplemental calcium and 400 IU vitamin D. Outcome measures included sex hormones (testosterone, bioavailable testosterone, sex-hormone binding globulin [SHBG], estradiol, and estrone), bone mineral density (BMD; femoral neck, Ward's triangle, trochanter, lumbar spine, and total body), bone turnover markers, lower extremity muscle strength, percent body fat, lean body mass, hemoglobin, hematocrit, prostate symptoms, and prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels. RESULTS: Twenty-three men (34%) withdrew from the study; 44 men completed the trial. In these men, bioavailable testosterone levels increased from 3.2 +/- 1.2 nmol/l (SD) to 5.6 +/- 3.5 nmol/l (p <.002) at 12 months in the testosterone group, whereas no change occurred in the control group. Although there was no change in estradiol levels in either group, estrone levels increased in the testosterone group (103 +/- 26 pmol/l to 117 +/- 33 pmol/l; p <.017). The testosterone group had a 0.3% gain in femoral neck BMD, whereas the control group lost 1.6% over 12 months (p =.015). No significant changes were seen in markers of bone turnover in either group. Improvements in muscle strength were seen in both groups at 12 months compared with baseline scores. Strength increased 38% (p =.017) in the testosterone group and 27% in the control group (p =.06), with no statistical difference between the groups. In the testosterone group, body fat decreased from 26.3 +/- 5.8% to 24.6 +/- 6.5% (p =.001), and lean body mass increased from 56.2 +/- 5.3 kg to 57.2 +/- 5.1 kg (p =.001), whereas body mass did not change. Men receiving testosterone had an increase in PSA from 2.0 +/- 1.4 microg/l to 2.6 +/- 1.8 microg/l (p =.04), whereas men receiving placebo had an increase in PSA from 1.9 +/- 1.0 microg/l to 2.2 +/- 1.5 microg/l (p =.09). No significant differences between groups were seen in hemoglobin, hematocrit, symptoms or signs of benign prostate hyperplasia, or PSA levels. CONCLUSIONS: Transdermal testosterone (5 mg/d) prevented bone loss at the femoral neck, decreased body fat, and increased lean body mass in a group of healthy men over age 65 with low bioavailable testosterone levels. In addition, both testosterone and placebo groups demonstrated gains in lower extremity muscle strength, possibly due to the beneficial effects of vitamin D. Testosterone did result in a modest increase in PSA levels but resulted in no change in signs or symptoms of prostate hyperplasia.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/gerona/56.5.m266

Cites

38 of 38 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Kenny, A. M., Prestwood, K. M., Gruman, C. A., Marcello, K. M., & Raisz, L. G.
Venue
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2001-05-01
Volume
56
Issue
5
Pages
M266-M272
ISSN
  • 1079-5006 (ISSN-L)
  • 1758-535X
DOI
10.1093/gerona/56.5.m266
OpenAlex
W2127219068
Cited by
456
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 14
FWCI
24.70
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • The Journals of Gerontology Series A (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Brookdale Foundation
  • Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation
  • National Institutes of Health (5p60ag013631-05)
  • National Institute on Aging (5P60AG13631)
  • National Center for Research Resources (M01RR006192, MO1 RR06192)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Hormonal and reproductive studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Bone health and osteoporosis research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Menopause: Health Impacts and Treatments
Keywords
transdermal testosterone, testosterone supplementation, hypogonadism, older men, bone mineral density, muscle strength, bone turnover markers, sex hormone-binding globulin, estradiol, estrone, fat mass, lean body mass, prostate symptoms, prostate-specific antigen, musculoskeletal health, calcium and vitamin D supplementation, hemoglobin and hematocrit
MeSH terms
Administration, Cutaneous, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Biological Availability, Body Composition, Bone and Bones, Estradiol, Estrone, Humans, Male, Muscles, Parathyroid Hormone, Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin, Testosterone, Vitamin D, Exercise, Bone Density

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review