Impact of testosterone on body fat composition

Abstract

An excessive food supply has resulted in an increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity, conditions accompanied by serious health problems. Several studies have confirmed the significant inverse correlation between testosterone and obesity. Indeed after decades of intense controversy, a consensus has emerged that androgens are important regulators of fat mass and distribution in mammals and that androgen status affects cellularity in vivo. The high correlation of testosterone levels with body composition and its contribution to the balance of lipid metabolism are also suggested by the fact that testosterone lowering is associated with important clinical disorders such as dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. In contrast, testosterone supplementation therapy in hypogonadic men has been shown to improve the lipid profile by lowering cholesterol, blood sugar and insulin resistance. Leptin, ghrelin and adiponectin are some of the substances related to feeding as well as androgen regulation. Thus, complex and delicate mechanisms appear to link androgens with various tissues (liver, adipose tissue, muscles, coronary arteries and heart) and the subtle alteration of some of these interactions might be the cause of correlated diseases. This review underlines some aspects regarding the high correlations between testosterone physiology and body fat composition.

Mechanisms of the anorexia of aging—a review

“…Perry et al found increases leptin levels in middle age women, followed by a decline in older women (Perry et al 1997). However, testosterone levels are inversely correlated with leptin concentration (De Maddalena et al 2012), and in aging males, testosterone level decrease (and is strongly related with the development of sarcopenia) (Maggio et al 2013). These results suggest a possible role for leptin in the physiological anorexia of aging in males, but not in females.…”

Low Total Testosterone Levels are Associated With the Metabolic Syndrome in Elderly Men: The Role of Body Weight, Lipids, Insulin Resistance, and Inflammation; The Ikaria Study

“…According to this, increased deposition of visceral adipose in hypogonadal subjects causes a further decrease in testosterone concentrations through conversion to estradiol by the enzyme aromatase. This leads to even more abdominal fat deposition and a greater degree of testosterone deficiency [39].…”

Competitive and compensatory effects of androgen signaling and glucocorticoid signaling

“…The long-term effects causing central adiposity are observed in patients with Cushing's syndrome [45] and in patients treated with exogenous corticosteroid treatment [46] . Unlike their anabolic actions in muscle, androgens have catabolic functions in adipose tissue [47][48][49][50] . Low testosterone levels are associated with visceral obesity in men [47,48] , and AR knockout (KO) male mice exhibit obesity [49,50] .…”

“…Unlike their anabolic actions in muscle, androgens have catabolic functions in adipose tissue [47][48][49][50] . Low testosterone levels are associated with visceral obesity in men [47,48] , and AR knockout (KO) male mice exhibit obesity [49,50] . Moreover, testosterone treatment reverses the increase of body fat mass induced by glucocorticoids [9] .…”