Androgens and Diabetes in Men
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Low levels of androgens in men may play a role in the development of diabetes; however, few studies have examined the association between androgen concentration and diabetes in men in the general population. The objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that low normal levels of total, free, and bioavailable testosterone are associated with prevalent diabetes in men. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The study sample included 1,413 adult men aged > or =20 years who participated in the morning session of the first phase of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross-sectional survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the U.S. Bioavailable and free testosterone levels were calculated from serum total testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, and albumin concentrations. RESULTS: In multivariable models adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, and adiposity, men in the first tertile (lowest) of free testosterone level were four times more likely to have prevalent diabetes compared with men in the third tertile (odds ratio 4.12 [95% CI 1.25-13.55]). Similarly, men in the first tertile of bioavailable testosterone also were approximately four times as likely to have prevalent diabetes compared with men in the third tertile (3.93 [1.39-11.13]). These associations persisted even after excluding men with clinically abnormal testosterone concentrations defined as total testosterone <3.25 ng/ml or free testosterone <0.07 ng/ml. No clear association was observed for total testosterone after multivariable adjustment (P for trend across tertiles = 0.27). CONCLUSIONS: Low free and bioavailable testosterone concentrations in the normal range were associated with diabetes, independent of adiposity. These data suggest that low androgen levels may be a risk factor for diabetes in men.
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In previous NHANES III studies, low free and bioavailable testosterone were associated with type 2 diabetes.
“In previous studies published in NHANES III, low free and bioavailable testosterone were associated with type 2 diabetes [2]”
From Association of cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity with sex steroid hormone levels in US men (2009) · cites this paper as [2]
Sex steroid hormone concentrations have been associated with health conditions in men, including prostate cancer, diabetes, low bone mineral density, lower urinary tract symptoms, impaired cognitive function, and cardiovascular disease.
“Sex steroid hormone concentrations have been previously shown to be associated with health conditions in men, including prostate cancer [1], diabetes [2, 3], low bone mineral density [4], lower urinary tract symptoms [5], impaired cognitive function [6, 7] and cardiovascular disease [8–10].”
From Association of cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity with sex steroid hormone levels in US men (2009) · cites this paper as [2]
Age and BMI were major factors influencing both total and calculated free testosterone levels in the cohort.
“In our cohort, age and BMI were major factors influencing both TT and cFT levels, consistent with reports from previous studies (2,7,25).”
From Low testosterone levels are common and associated with insulin resistance in men with diabetes (2008) · cites this paper as [7]
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- Authors
- Selvin, E., Feinleib, M., Zhang, L., Rohrmann, S., Rifai, N., Nelson, W. G., Dobs, A., Basaria, S., Golden, S. H., & Platz, E. A.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- German Cancer Research Center (DE)
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Diabetes Care
- Publisher
- American Diabetes Association
- Published
- 2007-02-01
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 234-238
- ISSN
- 0149-5992 (ISSN-L)
- 1935-5548
- OpenAlex
- W2046711785
- Cited by
- 333
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 20.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Diabetes Care (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Johns Hopkins University
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (T32HL007024)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Hormonal and reproductive studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Sperm and Testicular Function
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes, Cardiovascular Risks, and Lipoproteins
- Keywords
- androgens, testosterone, diabetes mellitus, men, free testosterone, bioavailable testosterone, total testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, diabetes risk factors, adiposity, NHANES
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Androgens, Cross-Sectional Studies, Estrogens, Ethnicity, Health Surveys, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Middle Aged, Random Allocation, Reference Values, Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin, Dihydrotestosterone, Testosterone, Body Mass Index, Multivariate Analysis, Body Size
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