Obesity increases the incidence of hypogonadism in men, and hypogonadism in turn plays a role in obesity. One of the first mechanisms proposed to explain this was a hypothesis based on the principle that obese men have higher estrogen levels, and that increased estrogens provide feedback to the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis, reducing the secretion of gonadotropins and leading to a decrease of overall testosterone levels. This concept has since been questioned, though never completely disproven. In this study we compared hormone levels in three groups of men with differing BMI levels (between 18-25, 25-29, and 30-39), and found correlations between lowering overall testosterone, SHBG and increased BMI. At the same time, there were no significant changes to levels of free androgens, estradiol or the gonadotropins LH and FSH. These findings are in line with the idea that estrogen production in overweight and obese men with BMI up to 39 kg/m(2) does not significantly influence endocrine testicular function.

Institute of Endocrinology Prague Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

AGGERHOLM AS, THULSTRUP AM, TOFT G, RAMLAU-HANSEN CH, BONDE JP. Is overweight a risk factor for reduced semen quality and altered serum sex hormone profile? Fertil Steril. 2008;90:619–626. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.07.1292. PubMed DOI

CARRAGETA DF, OLIVEIRA PF, ALVES MG, MONTEIRO MP. Obesity and male hypogonadism: tales of a vicious cycle. Obes Rev. 2019;20:1148–1158. doi: 10.1111/obr.12863. PubMed DOI

CHAVARRO JE, TOTH TL, WRIGHT DL, MEEKER JD, HAUSER R. Body mass index in relation to semen quality, sperm DNA integrity, and serum reproductive hormone levels among men attending an infertility clinic. Fertil Steril. 2010;93:2222–2231. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.01.100. PubMed DOI PMC

COHEN PG. The hypogonadal-obesity cycle: role of aromatase in modulating the testosterone-estradiol shunt – a major factor in the genesis of morbid obesity. Med Hypotheses. 1999;52:49–51. doi: 10.1054/mehy.1997.0624. PubMed DOI

DHINDSA S, GHANIM H, BATRA M, DANDONA P. Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in men with diabesity. Diabetes Care. 2018;41:1516–1525. doi: 10.2337/dc17-2510. PubMed DOI PMC

DUŠKOVÁ M, POSPÍŠILOVÁ H. The role of non-aromatizable testosterone metabolite in metabolic pathways. Physiol Res. 2011;60:253–261. doi: 10.33549/physiolres.932080. PubMed DOI

FEJES I, KOLOSZÁR S, ZÁVACZKI Z, DARU J, SZÖLLÖSI J, PÁL A. Effect of body weight on testosterone/estradiol ratio in oligozoospermic patients. Arch Androl. 2006;52:97–102. doi: 10.1080/01485010500315479. PubMed DOI

FUI MNT, DUPUIS P, GROSSMANN M. Lowered testosterone in male obesity: mechanism, morbidity and management. Asian J Andrology. 2014;16:223–231. doi: 10.4103/1008-682X.122365. PubMed DOI PMC

GROSSMANN M. Hypogonadism and male obesity. Focus on unresolved questions. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 2018;89:11–21. doi: 10.1111/cen.13723. PubMed DOI

GROSSMANN M, FUI MNT, CHEUNG AS. Late onset hypogonadism: metabolic impact. Andrology. 2019;2019:1–11. doi: 10.1111/andr.12705. PubMed DOI

JENSEN TK, ANDERSSON AM, JØRGENSEN N, ANDERSEN AG, CARLSEN E, PETERSEN JH, SKAKKEBAEK NE. Body mass index in relation to semen quality and reproductive hormones among 1,558 Danish men. Fertil Steril. 2004;82:863–870. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2004.03.056. PubMed DOI

KAPRINAY B, LIPTÁK B, SLOVÁK L, ŠVÍK K, KNEZL V, SOTNÍKOVÁ R, GÁSPÁROVÁ Z. Hypertriglyceridemic rats fed high fat diet as a model of metabolic syndrome. Physiol Res. 2016;65(Suppl 4):S515–S518. doi: 10.33549/physiolres.933524. PubMed DOI

LAZÚROVÁ I, LAZÚROVÁ Z, FIGUROVÁ J, UJHÁZI S, DRAVECKÁ I, MAŠLANKOVÁ J, MAREKOVÁ M. Relationship between steroid hormones and metabolic profile in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Physiol Res. 2019;68:457–465. doi: 10.33549/physiolres.934062. PubMed DOI

MELOUN M, HILL M, MILITKY J, KUPKA K. Transformation in the PC-aided biochemical data analysis. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2000;38:553–559. doi: 10.1515/CCLM.2000.081. PubMed DOI

MELOUN M, MILITKY J, HILL M, BRERETON RG. Crucial problems in regression modelling and their solutions. Analyst. 2002;127:433–450. doi: 10.1039/b110779h. PubMed DOI

O’REILLY MW, HOUSE PJ, TOMLINSON JW. Understanding androgen action in adipose tissue. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2014;143:277–284. doi: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2014.04.008. PubMed DOI

PASQUALI R, CASIMIRRI F, CANTOBELLI S, MELCHIONDA N, MORSELLI LABATE AM, FABBRI R, CAPELLI M, BORTOLUZZI L. Effect of obesity and body fat distribution on sex hormones and insulin in men. Metabolism. 1991;40:101–104. doi: 10.1016/0026-0495(91)90199-7. PubMed DOI

PAULI EM, LEGRO RS, DEMERS LM, KUNSELMAN AR, DODSON WC, LEE PA. Diminished paternity and gonadal function with increasing obesity in men. Fertil Steril. 2008;90:346–351. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.06.046. PubMed DOI PMC

PIVONELLO R, MENAFRA D, RICCIO E, GARIFALOS F, MAZZELLA M, De ANGELIS C, COLAO A. Metabolic disorders and male hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Front Endocrinol. 2019;10:345. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2019.00345. PubMed DOI PMC

POSPISILOVA H, DUSKOVA M, HILL M, HORAK L. Changes of steroidogenesis subject to weight growth. ECE 2013; Copenhagen. http://www.endocrine-abstracts.org/ea/0032/ea0032p976.htm https://doi.org/10.1530/endoabs.32.P976 . DOI

RÁCZ B, DUŠKOVÁ M, STÁRKA L, HAINER V, KUNEŠOVÁ M. The link between circadian rhytm, obesity and microbiome. Physiol Res. 2018;67(Suppl 3):S409–S420. doi: 10.33549/physiolres.934020. PubMed DOI

RAMLAU-HANSEN CH, HANSEN M, JENSEN CR, OLSEN J, BONDE JP, THULSTRUP AM. Semen quality and reproductive hormones according to birth weight and body mass index in childhood and adult life: two decades of follow-up. Fertil Steril. 2010;94:610–618. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.01.142. PubMed DOI

SCHULSTER M, BERNIE AM, RAMASAMY R. The role of estradiol in male reproductive function. Asian J Androl. 2016;18:435–440. doi: 10.4103/1008-682X.173932. PubMed DOI PMC

TORINIWA Y, MURAMATSU M, ISHII Y, RIYA E, MIYAJIMA K, OHSHIDA S, KITATANI K, TAKEKOSHI S, MATSUI T, KUME S, YAMADA T, OHTA T. Pathophysiological characteristics of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis-like changes in cholesterol-loaded type 2 diabetic rats. Physiol Res. 2018;67:601–612. doi: 10.33549/physiolres.933784. PubMed DOI

TUNC O, BAKOS HW, TREMELLEN K. Impact of body mass index on seminal oxidative stress. Asian J Androl. 2011;43:121–128. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0272.2009.01032.x. PubMed DOI

VAVERKOVÁ H, KARÁSEK D, NOVOTNÝ D, HALENKA M, ORSÁG J, SLAVÍK L. Hypertriglyceridemic waist - a simple clinical tool to detect cardiometabolic risk: comparison with harmonized definition of metabolic syndrome. Physiol Res. 2015;64(Suppl 3):S385–S394. doi: 10.33549/physiolres.933198. PubMed DOI

WANG N, ZHAI H, HAN B, LI Q, CHEN Y, CHEN Y, XIA F, LIN D, LU Y. Visceral fat dysfunction is positively associated with hypogonadism in Chinese men. Sci Rep. 2016;6:19844. doi: 10.1038/srep19844. PubMed DOI PMC

Androgens in SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infections