Men with symptomatic COVID-19, who have low testosterone following hospitalization, were more likely to develop severe infection and die from the disease, suggests a new study.
The study, conducted in Milan during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, revealed that the lower the levels of testosterone, the higher the likelihood that male patients would need intensive care, be intubated on a ventilator and remain in hospital over a longer period.
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Their likelihood of dying increased six-fold.
Professor Andrea Salonia and his colleagues from the San Raffaele University Hospital in Italy compared 286 male Covid patients, who were admitted to the emergency room, with 305 healthy male volunteers, who went to the hospital to give blood between Feb and May 2020.
The team checked both patients and volunteers for levels of male hormones, including testosterone.
Testosterone is measured in nanomoles per litre (nmol/l) and 9.2 or below is deemed the threshold for low testosterone, termed hypogonadism.
Nearly 90 per cent of the patients had testosterone below this level, compared to just 17 per cent of the healthy volunteers.
Furthermore, testosterone levels in the patients were also significantly below the threshold, averaging around 2.5 nmol/l.
Those patients who had mild symptoms or were admitted to hospital had slightly higher testosterone levels (between 3-4 nmol/l) than those admitted to ICU or those who died of the disease (just 0.7-1.0 nmol/l).
Even when age, pre-existing conditions and body mass index (BMI) – the universally recognised measure of healthy weight – were taken into account, the differences in hormonal profiles and clinical outcomes were still stark.
Commenting on the findings, Professor Salonia, a specialist in urology and endocrinology at San Raffaele Hospital, said:
Prof Salonia added:
Because the team does not have data on the testosterone levels in the patients before they contracted COVID-19, they cannot say whether low testosterone was a pre-existing long-term condition that exacerbated the disease or whether it was caused by the SARS-COV2 virus (the virus that causes COVID-19).
However, other research has shown that some receptors for the virus, including the enzyme TMPRSS2, are linked to male hormones and that the virus reduces the number of Leydig cells in the body, which produce testosterone.
Professor Jens Sonksen, an executive member of the EAU (Europe’s biggest urology conference), said:
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The American Urology Association (AUA) identifies low blood testosterone symptoms as the following:
- Low sex drive
- Fatigue
- Reduced lean muscle mass
- Irritability
- Erectile dysfunction
- Depression.
The health body adds:
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