Table 2.
Laboratory parameters and iron metabolism mediators after 15 weeks of testosterone and placebo treatment. There was no significant difference in any of the baseline measures of body composition, insulin sensitivity or inflammation of men randomized to testosterone or placebo arms (10).
| Testosterone (n=20) | Placebo (n=14) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| baseline | 15 weeks | p | baseline | 15 Weeks | p | mean difference, [95% CI] | P | |
| Weight (kg) | 119 ±21 | 118 ±21 | 0.62 | 124 ±30 | 124 ±29 | 0.95 | −0.5, [−2.9, 2.0] | 0.70 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 38.4 ±6.8 | 38.3±7.0 | 0.66 | 39.4±7.9 | 39.4±7.8 | 0.85 | −0.1, [−0.9, 0.7] | 0.80 |
| Laboratory measurements | ||||||||
| Total testosterone (nmol/L) | 9.0 ±3.0 | 24.4±6.7 | <0.001 | 8.3 ±2.8 | 8.1 ±4.2 | 0.78 | 15.3, [11.7, 18.9] | <0.001 |
| Free testosterone (nmol/L) | 0.16±0.05 | 0.49±0.14 | <0.001 | 0.15±0.04 | 0.14±0.05 | 0.80 | 0.33, [0.24, 0.42] | <0.001 |
| Calculated Free testosterone (nmol/L) | 0.19±0.04 | 0.62±0.17 | <0.001 | 0.18±0.03 | 0.17±0.06 | 0.56 | 0.43, [0.33, 0.54] | <0.001 |
| SHBG (nmol/L) | 27 ±14 | 26 ±11 | 0.17 | 26 ±13 | 26 ±13 | 0.68 | −1.4, [−5.2, 2.4] | 0.46 |
| HbA1c% (mmol/mol) | 6.8 ±0.9 (51±9.8) | 7.2 ±0.9 (55±9.8) | 0.27 | 7.0 ±1.4 (53±15.3) | 7.1 ±1.5 (54±16.4) | 0.72 | 0.15, [−0.59, 0.90] | 0.40 |
| Hematocrit % | 42.1±2.75 | 45.6±4.6 | 0.001 | 40.7±2.9 | 41.6±3.0 | 0.22 | 2.7 [0.2, 5.1] | 0.03 |
| Hemoglobin (g/L) | 141±9 | 151±16 | 0.002 | 135±9 | 139±11 | 0.05 | 7 [−1, 14] | 0.07 |
| Red blood cell count (million/μL) | 4.6±0.3 | 5.2±0.6 | <0.001 | 4.5±0.4 | 4.7±0.4 | 0.04 | 0.39 [0.06, 0.72] | 0.02 |
| Mean corpuscular volume (fL) | 91.4±4.3 | 87.9±6.1 | <0.001 | 89.7±5.4 | 89.1±4.4 | 0.34 | −2.9 [−5.2, −0.7] | 0.01 |
| Mean corpuscular hemoglobin (pg/cell) | 30.4±1.6 | 29.2±2.4 | <0.001 | 30.2±2.0 | 29.9±1.7 | 0.07 | −0.9 [−1.7, −0.2] | 0.02 |
| Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (g/L) | 333±5 | 332±7 | 0.57 | 336±7 | 335±8 | 0.51 | 02 [−5, 5] | 0.94 |
| Red cell distribution width (%) | 14.0±0.8 | 14.7±1.2 | 0.006 | 14.2±1.1 | 14.1±1.0 | 0.70 | 0.8 [0.1, 1.5] | 0.03 |
| White blood cells (thousands/μL) | 7.3±2.3 | 7.6±1.9 | 0.42 | 6.7±2.6 | 6.5±2.2 | 0.67 | 0.5 [−0.7, 1.6] | 0.40 |
| Platelets(thousands/μL) | 222±52 | 223±52 | 0.85 | 188±70 | 187±59 | 0.92 | 3 [−24, 29] | 0.84 |
| Hepcidin (ng/ml) | 194±12 | 137±14 | <0.01 | 200±12 | 198±9 | 0.84 | −54 [−75, −33] | <0.01 |
| Erythropoietin (mU/ml) | 21.4±1.7 | 24.7±2.1 | 0.034 | 22.1±1.7 | 21.6±1.8 | 0.62 | 4.1 [2.8, 5.4] | 0.023 |
| Ferritin (μg/ml) | 2.01±0.12 | 1.87±0.17 | 0.27 | 2.24±0.17 | 2.16±0.13 | 0.57 | −0.06 [−0.11, 0.05] | 0.39 |
| Iron (ug/dl) | 77±6 | 70±8 | 0.13 | 79±8 | 84±9 | 0.3 | −12 [−16, −6] | 0.03 |
| TTBC (μg/dl) | 331±18 | 390±20 | 0.04 | 353±7 | 363±22 | 0.54 | 37 [11, 55] | 0.02 |
| UIBC (μg/dl) | 254±21 | 321±22 | 0.04 | 271±12 | 273±18 | 0.74 | 55 [21, 68] | 0.01 |
| Transferrin (μg/dl) | 262±11 | 318±14 | <0.01 | 257±11 | 257±11 | 0.85 | 52 [25,79] | 0.018 |
| Transferrin Saturation (%) | 23.6±2.2 | 18.3±1.3 | 0.02 | 21.3±1.0 | 22.2±1.1 | 0.52 | −6.1 [−8.3, −3.9] | 0.012 |
| Ferroportin expression (Arbitrary Units) | 0.46±0.11 | 0.78±0.28 | 0.008 | 0.50±0.13 | 0.52±0.15 | 0.63 | 0.29 [0.15, 0.44] | 0.019 |
| Transferrin Receptor-2 expression (Arbitrary Units) | 0.81±0.18 | 1.12±0.28 | 0.029 | 0.85±0.21 | 0.95±0.26 | 0.41 | 0.22 [0.12, 0.33] | 0.035 |