Testosterone in males with COVID-19: a 12-month cohort study.
Andrology
; 11(1): 17-23, 2023 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36251583
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Male patients with COVID-19 have been found with reduced serum total testosterone (tT) levels and with more severe clinical outcomes.OBJECTIVES:
To assess total testosterone (tT) levels and the probability of recovering eugonadal tT levels during a minimum 12-month timespan in a cohort of men who have been followed over time after the recovery from laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. MATERIALS ANDMETHODS:
Demographic, clinical and hormonal values were collected for the overall cohort. Hypogonadism was defined as tT ≤9.2 nmol/l. The Charlson Comorbidity Index was used to score health-significant comorbidities. Descriptive statistics was used to compare hormonal levels at baseline versus 7-month (FU1) versus 12-month (FU2) follow-up, respectively. Multivariate cox proportional hazards regression model was used to identify the potential predictors of eugonadism recovery over time among patients with hypogonadism at the time of infection.RESULTS:
Of the original cohort of 286 patients, follow-up data were available for 121 (42.3%) at FU1 and 63 (22%) patients at FU2, respectively. Higher median interquartile range (IQR) tT levels were detected at FU2 (13.8 (12.3-15.3) nmol/L) versus FU1 (10.2 [9.3-10.9] nmol/L) and versus baseline (3.6 [3.02-4.02] nmol/L) (all p < 0.0001), whilst both LH and E2 levels significantly decreased over the same time frame (all p ≤ 0.01). Circulating IL-6 levels further decreased at FU2 compared to FU1 levels (19.3 vs. 72.8 pg/ml) (p = 0.02). At multivariable cox regression analyses, baseline tT level (HR 1.19; p = 0.03 [1.02-1.4]) was independently associated with the probability of tT level normalization over time, after adjusting for potential confounders.CONCLUSIONS:
Circulating tT levels keep increasing over time in men after COVID-19. Still, almost 30% of men who recovered from COVID-19 had low circulating T levels suggestive for a condition of hypogonadism at a minimum 12-month follow-up.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
COVID-19
/
Hipogonadismo
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
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Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Andrology
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Italia