Male Testosterone Does Not Adapt to the Partner's Menstrual Cycle.

BACKGROUND: It has not yet been established whether men in heterosexual relationships adapt their hormone levels to their female partner's menstrual cycle to allocate reproductive resources to the period when the female is actually fertile. AIM: This prospective observational study tested the hypothesis that some males have peaks in testosterone or acne (a possible biomarker for androgen activity) near their partners' ovulation, whereas other males display the opposite pattern. METHODS: 48 couples supplied menstrual cycle data, male salivary samples, and a protocol of daily activities for 120 days. Daily saliva samples were analyzed for testosterone concentrations by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The main hypothesis was tested by analyzing whether each individual male's testosterone/acne response to ovulation (either an increase or a decrease in comparison to the individual's average levels) was stable over time. To do this, we analyzed the Spearman correlation between individually normalized periovulatory testosterone and acne during the first half of the study versus the second half of the study. OUTCOMES: Correlation between each male individual's periovulatory testosterone and acne patterns during the first half of the study versus the second half of the study. RESULTS: No predictability in the male individuals' testosterone (Spearman's rho = -0.018, P = .905) or acne (Spearman's rho = -0.036, P = .862) levels during ovulation was found. CLINICAL TRANSLATION: The study being "negative," there is no obvious translational potential in the results. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: The main strength of this study lies in the excellent compliance of the study participants and the large number of sampling timepoints over several menstrual cycles, thereby allowing each male individual to be his own control subject. A limitation is that samples were only obtained in the morning; however, including later timepoints would have introduced a number of confounders and would also have hampered the study's feasibility. CONCLUSIONS: The current results strongly indicate that male morning testosterone levels neither increase nor decrease in response to the partner's ovulation. This discordance to previous laboratory studies could indicate either that (i) the phenomenon of hormonal adaptation of men to women does not exist and earlier experimental studies should be questioned, (ii) that the phenomenon is short-lived/acute and wanes if the exposure is sustained, or (iii) that the male testosterone response may be directed toward other women than the partner. Ström JO, Ingberg E, Slezak JK, et al. Male Testosterone Does Not Adapt to the Partner's Menstrual Cycle. J Sex Med 2018;15:1103-1110.

Sexual function and combined oral contraceptives - a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: The effect of combined oral contraceptives (COC) on female sexuality has long been a matter of discussion, but placebo-controlled studies are lacking. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate if an estradiol-containing COC influences sexual function. DESIGN: Investigator-initiated, randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial where 202 healthy women were randomized to a combined oral contraceptive (1.5 mg estradiol and 2.5 mg nomegestrol acetate) or placebo for three treatment cycles. METHODS: Sexual function at baseline and during the last week of the final treatment cycle was evaluated by the McCoy Female Sexuality Questionnaire. Serum and hair testosterone levels were assessed at the same time points. RESULTS: Compared to placebo, COC use was associated with a small decrease in sexual interest (COC median change score: -2.0; interquartile range (IQR): -5.0-0.5 vs. placebo: -1.0; IQR: -3.0-2.0, p = 0.019), which remained following adjustment for change in self-rated depressive symptoms B = -0.80 ± 0.30, Wald = 7.08, p = 0.008. However, the proportion of women who reported a clinically relevant deterioration in sexual interest did not differ between COC or placebo users (COC 18 (22.2%) vs. placebo 16 (17.8%), p = 0.47). Change in other measured aspects of sexual function as well as total score of sexual function did not differ between the two treatments. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that use of estradiol-based combined oral contraceptives is associated with reduced sexual interest. However, the changes are minute, and probably not of clinical relevance.

Testosterone-like immunoreactivity in hair measured in minute sample amounts - a competitive radioimmunoassay with an adequate limit of detection.

The concentrations of testosterone deposited in hair during hair growth may provide a retrospective reflection of the concentrations of bioactive testosterone in plasma. The objective of this study was to develop a radioimmunoassay with a sufficiently low limit of detection to measure the testosterone-like immunoreactivity in smaller hair samples (5 mg) than used in earlier studies, and to compare three different extraction procedures. The competitive radioimmunoassay consisted of a polyclonal antiserum (immunogen testosterone-7α-BSA) and a radioligand synthesised from testosterone-3-CMO-histamine. The within-assay and total coefficients of variation in the working range was 3% and 4.5%, respectively. The limit of detection was 0.87 pg/mL, which is equivalent to 0.12 pg/mg testosterone in 5 mg of hair. The concentration of testosterone-like immunoreactivity in hair samples was 1.23 (SD 0.47) pg/mg in women and 2.67 (SD 0.58) pg/mg in men (pulverised hair). Significantly improved precision was found when pulverised hair was used compared to non-pulverised hair. Our data indicate that pulverisation of the hair prior to hormone extraction is crucial. Detection limits fit for the intended purpose are achievable with 5 mg samples of hair.

Lung fluke (Paragonimus africanus) infects Nigerian red-capped mangabeys and causes respiratory disease.

Eggs of the lung fluke genus Paragonimus were detected in red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus) in Nigeria. We assess the role of these primates as potential sylvatic hosts and the clinical effects of the parasite on monkeys. DNA sequenced from eggs in feces were 100% identical in the ITS2 region to Paragonimus africanus sequences from humans in Cameroon. Paragonimus-positive monkeys coughed more than uninfected monkeys. Experimental de-worming led to reduction in parasite intensity and a corresponding reduction of coughing to baseline levels in infected monkeys. This report provides the first evidence of Paragonimus sp. in C. torquatus, of P. africanus in Nigerian wildlife, and the first molecular evidence of the parasite in African wildlife. Coughing, sometimes interpreted as a communication behavior in primates, can actually indicate infection with lung parasites. Observations of coughing in primates may, in turn, provide a useful mechanism for surveillance of Paragonimus spp, which are re-emerging human pathogens, in wildlife reservoirs.