Table 2.
Longitudinal evaluation of plasma testosterone, RBC hematological indices, iron indices, and blood metabolites in blood specimens from individuals before and after testosterone therapy (TT) initiation.
| Pre-TT Mean±SD (Min-Max) |
TT-1 Mean±SD (Min-Max) |
TT-2 Mean±SD (Min-Max) |
TT-3 Mean±SD (Min-Max) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free testosterone (pg/mL) | 17.7±15.6 (3.1–39.9) |
153.3±153.9** (41.5–383.8) |
129.3±95.9 * (52.2–308.1) |
122.8±71.2* (15.8–225.2) |
| Total testosterone (ng/dL) | 16.6±34.6 (0.4–100) |
232.1±478.3 (2.6–1286) |
291.8±403 (5.4–1178) |
567.9±426.1** (4.1–1076) |
| RBCs (10 6 /μL) | 4.6±0.35 (4.1–5.1) |
4.9±0.4*
(4.3–5.5) |
5.1±0.3***
(4.5–5.6) |
5.1±0.5**
(4.4–5.8) |
| Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 14.1± 0.7 (12.7–14.8) |
14.7±0.9 (13.1–15.6) |
15.1±0.5**
(14.4–15.9) |
15.2±1.1**
(14.3–16.9) |
| Hematocrit (%) | 41.9± 2.2 (39–45) |
44.4±2.5* (41–48) |
45.5±1.5** (43–47) |
45.7±3.7**
(40–50) |
| MCV (fL) | 91.1±4.4 (83.9–100) |
91.1± 5.1 (85–99) |
89.6±4.9 (84–97) |
90.3±3.5 (85–95) |
| RDW-CV (%) | 12.7±0.5 (11.9–13.6) |
12.9±0.3 (12.2–13.1) |
13.6±1.1*
(12.4–15.3) |
12.9±0.9 (11.5–14.1) |
| SHBG (nmol/L) | 53.8±21.8 (22–86) |
38.1±15.2*
(20–60) |
37.9±22.7**
(17–86) |
37.7±17.5** (22–70) |
| Transferrin (mg/mL) | 244.1±35.5 (206–306) |
277.7±58.8***
(196–355) |
264.4±52.6** (180–327) |
257.7±43.7 (183–312) |
| Ferritin (ng/mL) | 81.4±83.3 (16–236) |
64.6±107.3 (4–301) |
55.8±69.3 (9–214) |
53.3±87.9 (12–252) |
| TIBC (μg/mL) | 341.6±49.7 (288–428) |
388.7±82.5*** (274–497) |
370.1±73.8**
(252–458) |
360.9±61.3 (256–437) |
| Lactate (mmol/L) | 3.6±0.7 (2.6–5.1) |
3.5±0.9 (2.3–4.4) |
4.8±1.2* (3.4–7.1) |
4.6±1 (2.9–5.8) |
| Glucose (mmol/L) | 3.8±0.4 (3.2–4.3) |
4.0±0.6 (3.3–4.7) |
4.1±1.3 (2.2–6.7) |
3.7±0.7 (2.4–4.4) |
| Potassium (mmol/L) | 26.2±4.3 (21.8–35.8) |
27.9±3.9 (24.4–36.8) |
28.3±3.8 (24.2–35.3) |
29.5±6.0 (21.8–40.6) |
| Chloride (mmol/L) | 100±1.7 (97–102) |
99.7±2.2 (97–102) |
99.6±2.3 (96–102) |
98.6±2.2 (95–102) |
TT-1, TT-2, and TT-3, 1–2 months, 5–6 months, and 10–12 months after TT initiation (Pre-TT). N=7–8. RBC, red blood cells; MCV, mean corpuscular volume; RDW, red cell distribution width; SHBG, sex hormone binding globulin; TIBC, total iron-binding capacity.
*
p<0.05,
**
p<0.01,
***
p<0.001 compared with Pre-TT using mixed-effects analysis and Fisher’s LSD test.