Age-Dependent Relationships Between Disease Risk and Testosterone Levels: Relevance to COVID-19 Disease.
Michael P MuehlenbeinJeffrey GassenTomasz NowakAlexandria HendersonBrooke MorrisSally WeaverErich BakerPublished in: American journal of men's health (2023)
Testosterone levels in men appear to be prognostic of a number of disease outcomes, including severe COVID-19 disease. Testosterone levels naturally decline with age and are lower in individuals with a number of comorbidities and chronic conditions. Low testosterone may therefore be both a cause and a consequence of illness, including COVID-19 disease. The present project examines whether preexisting conditions for severe COVID-19 disease were themselves related to serum-free testosterone levels in men who had not been infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. A clinical risk score for severe COVID-19 disease was computed based on the results of previously published meta-analyses and cohort studies, and relationships between this score and testosterone levels were tested in 142 men ages 19 to 82 years. Greater burden of preexisting conditions for severe COVID-19 disease was related to lower testosterone levels among men younger than 40 years of age. In older men, the decrease in testosterone that accompanies aging attenuated the effect of the clinical risk score on free testosterone levels. Given that older age itself is a predictor of COVID-19 disease severity, these results together suggest that the presence of preexisting conditions may confound the relationship between testosterone levels and COVID-19 disease outcomes in men. Future research examining relationships among testosterone and outcomes related to infectious and chronic diseases should consider potential confounds, such as the role of preexisting conditions.
Keyphrases
- sars cov
- coronavirus disease
- respiratory syndrome coronavirus
- replacement therapy
- middle aged
- systematic review
- type diabetes
- metabolic syndrome
- skeletal muscle
- magnetic resonance imaging
- early onset
- randomized controlled trial
- physical activity
- insulin resistance
- risk assessment
- weight loss
- meta analyses
- human health