Endocrine Abstracts

Testosterone is the main male hormone controlling sexual and reproductive functions. Testosterone deficiency is associated with male hypogonadism, a syndromic condition that encompasses the well-recognised sexual and reproductive failure. Male hypogonadism has been, in fact, recently associated to an increased cardiovascular and metabolic risk (metabolic syndrome), most probably because testosterone deficiency is a stigmata of visceral adiposity. A stepwise reduction in testos...

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a pleiotropic cytokine of the interleukine-6 superfamily, is involved in several functions including the control of reproduction at the embrionic-endometrial interface and the regulation of energy homeostasis. LIF activates a cell-surface receptor complex (LIF-Rs) composed of one ligand-specific low affinity LIF receptor β (LIFR-β) subunit and the gp-130 subunit. Since little is known about the involvement of LIF in the modulation of...

Women with CAH have decreased fertility and sexual activity because of psychological aspects and genital status. The aim of this study was to evaluate sexual function and psychological attitudes in 18 women with CAH due to 21-HD (12 with non-classical, four with salt-wasting and two with simple virilizing CAH; 20–48 yrs) under standard treatment, and 18 age-matched healthy women. Sexual function was evaluated by a validated Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnair...

Objective: To verify whether hypogonadism represents a risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and to verify whether testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) improves CV parameters in subjects with known CV diseases (CVDs).Design: Meta-analysis.Methods: An extensive Medline search was performed using the following words ‘testosterone, CVD, and males’. The search was restricted to data from January 1, 196...

Background: The relationship between cardiovascular (CV) diseases (CVD) and testosterone levels in men has not been completely clarified.Aim: To evaluate the association between testosterone levels and CV risk in subjects with erectile dysfunction (ED) and to verify whether their body mass index might (BMI) represents a possible confounder in testosterone-related CV stratification.Material and methods: A consecutive series of 2269 ...

Introduction: Despite their efficacy in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) the popularity of inhibitors of 5α-reductase (5ARIs) is limited by their association with adverse sexual side effects. However, the real impact of 5ARIs on sex hormones and sexual function is controversial.Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the role of 5ARIs therapy on hormonal parameters and sexual function in men already complaining of sexual prob...

Introduction: Premature ejaculation (PE) and erectile dysfunction (ED) are considered pre-testicular causes of male subfertility. No previous study systematically evaluated the prevalence of ED and PE along with their possible correlations with clinical and colour-Doppler ultrasound (CDU) features in infertile men.Methods: Ejaculatory status, erectile function, prostatitis symptoms and psychopathological traits of 244 men complaining of couple infertilit...

Introduction: Prostatitis-like symptoms (PLS) may originate from the prostate or from pelvic or scrotal organs. The National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) is considered the gold-standard instrument to assess PLS severity. Although several studies previously investigated the impact of prostatitis, vesiculitis or epididymitis on semen parameters, only a few studies evaluated the correlations between PLS and scrotal or transrectal colour-Dopple...

Introduction and objectives: Anxiety has a relevant impact on everyday life, including sexual life, and therefore is considered the final common pathway by which social, psychological and biological stressors negatively affect sexual functioning. The aim of this study is to define the psycho-biological correlates of free-floating anxiety in a large sample of patients complaining erectile dysfunction (ED) based sexual problems.Methods: We studied a consec...

Objectives: Hypogonadism is often associated with diabetes mellitus and both conditions represent major risk factors for erectile dysfunction (ED). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of diabetes-induced hypogonadism on ED using two distinct animal models: alloxan-rabbits and streptozotocin (STZ)-rats.Methods: A subgroup of diabetic animals was Testosterone (T) replaced. After 8 weeks from induction of diabetes, erectile function was evaluat...