Metabolic syndrome in men with sexual dysfunction

Abstract

Aim Metabolic syndrome is the constellation of metabolic abnormalities which includes central obesity, atherogenic dyslipidaemia, hypertension, and hyperglycaemia. Insulin resistance is an important feature of type 2 diabetes. It is being increasingly recognized that low testosterone levels in men are associated with reduced insulin sensitivity and type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is often associated with male sexual dysfunction. Erectile dysfunction is more common in diabetic males and its prevalence appears to increase with age and duration of diabetes. Low serum testosterone level is one of the important cause of erectile dysfunction is type 2 diabetic men and it is relatively easy to treat than the other causes of erectile dysfunction. Material and Methods In this study carried out in a tertiary level hospital, serum concentration of total testosterone was measured in 170 type 2 diabetic (mean age 44.9 ± 7.9 years) and 40 non-diabetic (mean age 43.3 ± 9.4 years) patients who have erectile dysfunction or other features of hypogonadism. The aim of the study was to assess the parameters of metabolic syndrome among subjects with complain of sexual dysfunction. Results The mean total testosterone concentration in type 2 diabetic and non-diabetic men was 14.4 ± 5.6 and 17.4 ± 5.2 nmol/L respectively ( p = 0.002). Fifty nine of 170 (34.7%) type 2 diabetic and 8 of 40 (20%) non diabetic patients had low serum testosterone levels (≤12 nmol/L). BMI and waist circumference were both negatively correlated with testosterone levels in men, with the association being stronger for waist circumference. Conclusions Considering this finding, patients of MetS were studied which revealed metabolic syndrome was more common in hypogonadal subjects (88% in diabetic vs. 25% in non-diabetic). In diabetic subjects. Metabolic syndrome is also associated with the low serum testosterone levels in men.