Rahul Valsaraj1, Nilanjan Sengupta2, Arjun Baidya3, Soumik Goswami4, Pranab Kumar Sahana5
BACKGROUND
Obesity is a global pandemic in adolescent and adult population. Although changes
in hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis with obesity is well known, there is
dearth of literature from Eastern India especially with its relationship to obesity
parameters, insulin resistance (IR) & inflammatory markers. We wanted to study
the changes in total testosterone (TT), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and
calculated free testosterone (cFT) with parameters of obesity [body mass index
(BMI), waist, hip, neck, wrist circumference and waist-hip ratio], insulin resistance
[homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) – insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and
(HOMA2-IR) and inflammation (adiponectin and high sensitivity C-reactive protein,
hs-CRP)] in overweight and obese (OWOB) adolescent and adult males.
METHODS
An institution based cross-sectional study was done from January 2018 to January
2020 consisting of 323 male participants including adolescent and adults
presenting to or being referred for overweight or obesity to the Department of
Endocrinology and non-obese volunteers.
RESULTS
TT was lower in OWOB groups (adolescents - 216.6 ± 82.2 vs. 259.0 ± 111.1 ng
/ dl; P = < 0.0001, adults - 392.3 ± 131.4 vs. 500.24 ± 137.8 ng / dl; P = <
0.0001) compared to nonobese. Luteinizing hormone (LH), SHBG and cFT was
also significantly lower in OWOB groups. Obesity parameters (except waist-hip
ratio), HOMA-IR, HOMA2-IR and adiponectin correlated with TT, SHBG and cFT in
OWOB adults and only TT in OWOB adolescents. Hs-CRP correlated with TT, SHBG
and cFT in OWOB adults.
CONCLUSIONS
Testosterone was found to have a significant correlation with parameters of
obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammation in overweight and obese adolescent
and adult males.
