Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Diabetes in Men With Hypogonadism

In JAMA Internal Medicine, Bhasin et al evaluate whether testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) improves metabolic health in men with hypogonadism by (1) preventing progression from prediabetes to diabetes in men with prediabetes or (2) improved glycemic control among those with diabetes. The study involved 5204 participants with hypogonadism across 316 trial sites. Of the 1175 participants with prediabetes, 607 (51.7%) were randomized to testosterone and 568 (48.3%) to placebo, and of 3880 participants with diabetes, 1917 (49.4%) were randomized to testosterone and 1963 (50.6%) to placebo. The mean (SD) age of this cohort was 63.8 (8.1) years. Some animal and human studies suggest metabolic benefits of TRT, and this substudy of a large randomized clinical trial evaluating cardiovascular safety of testosterone in men with hypogonadism showed that progression to diabetes did not differ between groups and there were no differences in glycemic improvement among men with diabetes.
Source: JAMA Internal Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Source Type: research