| Abstrakt: |
Objective: After 40 years of age, men have a reduction in the amount of testosterone circulating in their bloodstream. The mechanisms of hypothalamic-pituitary regulation are broken down, including the mechanisms for the pulse mode of incretion. The aim of this research work was to study cause-and-effect links between the development of partial androgen deficiency of aging men (PADAM) and changes in the impulse mode of hormonal regulation in men of older age groups. Patients and Methods: In this study, 9 patients with partial androgen deficiency were analyzed. The age of these patients ranged from 42 to 74 years. The patients were given 40 mg of andriol (testosterone undecanoate) once each morning. All patients were put into one group, for which the research results were compared before and one month after the beginning of androgen-replacement therapy. In order to make the diagnoses of the breakdown in the rhythm of incretion, levels of LH, FSH, and STH, as well as of testosterone, cortisol, and insulin were measured by taking five samples from the serum. The samples were taken once every 20 minutes (in a period of time that covered the whole average period of their impulse incretion. Results: One month after the beginning of androgen-replacement therapy the patients showed an increase in the amplitude of fluctuations of LH (on average by 52.2%), FSH (on average by 126.7%), STH (on average by 81.0%), testosterone (on average by 69.0%), cortisol (on average by 45.5%) and insulin (on average by 76.2%) as compared with the original values before the study began (relative to average values). Conclusions: The reduction in testosterone production as men get older leads to a change from a pulse mode to a tonic mode of incretion of a number of hormones, as well as to a breakdown in the regulation of the cell cycle and an increase in mitotic activity. The inverse development of these changes can be seen among men of older age groups with PADAM who have been given androgen-replacement therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
