English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Obesity is a global pandemic in adolescent and adult population. Although changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis with obesity is well known, there is dearth of literature from Eastern India especially with its relationship to obesity parameters, insulin resistance (IR) & inflammatory markers. We wanted to study the changes in total testosterone (TT), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and calculated free testosterone (cFT) with parameters of obesity [body mass index (BMI), waist, hip, neck, wrist circumference and waist-hip ratio], insulin resistance [homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) – insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and (HOMA2-IR) and inflammation (adiponectin and high sensitivity C-reactive protein, hs-CRP)] in overweight and obese (OWOB) adolescent and adult males. METHODS An institution based cross-sectional study was done from January 2018 to January 2020 consisting of 323 male participants including adolescent and adults presenting to or being referred for overweight or obesity to the Department of Endocrinology and non-obese volunteers. RESULTS TT was lower in OWOB groups (adolescents - 216.6 ± 82.2 vs. 259.0 ± 111.1 ng / dl; P = < 0.0001, adults - 392.3 ± 131.4 vs. 500.24 ± 137.8 ng / dl; P = < 0.0001) compared to nonobese. Luteinizing hormone (LH), SHBG and cFT was also significantly lower in OWOB groups. Obesity parameters (except waist-hip ratio), HOMA-IR, HOMA2-IR and adiponectin correlated with TT, SHBG and cFT in OWOB adults and only TT in OWOB adolescents. Hs-CRP correlated with TT, SHBG and cFT in OWOB adults. CONCLUSIONS Testosterone was found to have a significant correlation with parameters of obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammation in overweight and obese adolescent and adult males. KEYWORDS Overweight, Obesity, Insulin Resistance, Testosterone, Hypogonadism