Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Guidelines suggest treating paraphilias with androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT). However little evidence is available about the long-term impact on bone and how to manage this adverse event.Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the impact of ADT on bone mass and bone mineral density (BMD) in men treated for hypersexuality with cyproterone acetate (CPA) and GnRH agonists (GnRHa), and to evaluate the effect of treatment with bisphosphonates.<...

Background and Objective: It is known that androgens decrease and estrogens increase TBG. In female to male transsexuals under testosterone replacement, decrease of TBG has been shown, but also an increased T3/T4 ratio despite stable free T4 and TSH, suggesting increased conversion to T3 by testosterone. We wanted to study the HPT axis in hypogonadal cis-males before and after testosterone replacement.Method: Prospective observational study in adult male...

Background: Male infertility is associated with a higher long-term morbidity and mortality risk. However, it is not clear which diseases are contributing to this risk. Osteoporosis is a possible factor, as it is a frequent disease and sex steroids regulate both fertility and bone health. Furthermore, there are data indicating that high FSH levels in women are related to low bone mineral density (BMD), independent of estradiol levels. As infertile men often have increased FSH, ...

Background: In patients with testicular dysgenesis syndrome, reduced semen quality and testicular cancer are common. We report a case of a testicular tumour in a patient with a history of cryptorchidism and oligoasthenospermia. He had an unusual hormonal profile, which was not fully explained by the pathological findings.Case: A 31-year-old man was referred to our tertiary care andrology unit for primary infertility with a history of bilateral orchidopex...

Introduction: 5 Alpha reductase deficiency (5-ARD) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder causing disturbance of sex development. 5 Alpha reductase is an enzyme involved in steroid metabolism, catalyzing testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT), its potent form. 5-ARD therefore results in lower DHT and higher testosterone values. DHT is crucial for the differentiation of the urogenital sinus and genital tubercle into the external genitalia, urethra and prostate, while the v...

Introduction: According to the free hormone transport hypothesis, only free testosterone (FT) is considered biologically active. Due to low circulating levels and technical challenges of direct FT measurements, calculators have been developed to estimate FT from serum total T, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and albumin levels. However, genetic polymorphisms altering SHBG’s binding affinity or capacity might result in calculation imprecisions with consequent incorrect...

Introduction: Pubertal sex steroids are indispensable for peak bone mass acquisition as well as skeletal sexual dimorphism. In males, both androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) are required for optimal periosteal cortical bone expansion, while estrogens limit bone size in females. In early puberty, estrogens directly stimulate longitudinal growth via ERα in cartilage, but also indirectly via growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF...

Background: Sex steroids are critical for skeletal development and maturation during puberty as well as skeletal maintenance during adult life. However, the exact time during puberty when sex steroids have the highest impact as well as the ability of bone to recover from transient sex steroid deficiency is unclear. The latter is highly relevant in the clinical context of delayed puberty, since the impact of a delayed pubertal onset on adult bone health remains elusive. Surgica...

Objective: Long-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) negatively influences bone. The short-term effects on bone and mineral homeostasis are less known. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the early effects of ADT on calcium/phosphate homeostasis and bone turnover.Design: Prospective cohort study.Methods: Eugonadal adult male sex offenders, who were referred for ADT to the endocrine outpatient clinic, received cyproterone acetate....

Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is a high-affinity binding protein for androgens and estrogens. According to the “free hormone hypothesis”, SHBG regulates the free sex steroid fraction and restricts androgen bioactivity. SHBG has also been independently associated with diabetes, osteoporosis etc., but whether this represents causality or residual confounding remains unconfirmed. We studied mice overexpressing human SHBG. Using multiligand liquid chromatography ta...