Effect of testosterone treatment onadipokines and gut hormones in obese men on a hypocaloric diet

Abstract

Context: In obese men with lowered testosterone levels, testosterone treatment augments dietassociated loss of body fat. Objective: We hypothesized that testosterone treatment modulates circulating concentrations of hormonal mediators of fat mass and energy homeostasis in obese men undergoing a weight loss program. Design: Prespecified secondary analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Setting: Tertiary referral center. Participants: Obese men (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2) with a repeated total testosterone level ≤12 nmol/L. Intervention: One hundred participants mean age 53 years (interquartile range 47 to 60 years) receiving 10 weeks of a very low-energy diet followed by 46 weeks of weight maintenance were randomly assigned at baseline to 56 weeks of intramuscular testosterone undecanoate (cases, n = 49) or matching placebo (controls, n = 51). Eighty-two men completed the study. Main outcomes: Between-group differences in leptin, adiponectin, ghrelin, glucagon like peptide-1, gastric inhibitory polypeptide, peptide YY, pancreatic polypeptide, and amylin levels. Results: At study end, compared with controls, cases had greater reductions in leptin [mean adjusted difference (MAD), -3.6 ng/mL (95% CI, -5.3 to -1.9); P < 0.001]. The change in leptin levels between cases and controls was dependent on baseline fat mass, as the between-group difference progressively increased with increasing fat mass [MAD, -0.26 ng/mL (95% CI, -0.31 to -0.26); P = 0.001 per 1 kg of baseline fat mass]. Weight loss-associated changes in other hormones persisted during the weight maintenance phase but were not modified by testosterone treatment. Conclusions: Testosterone treatment led to reductions in leptin beyond those achieved by dietassociated weight loss. Testosterone treatment may reduce leptin resistance in obese men.