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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by jrbecker on October 8, 2004, at 9:03:45
...[except in a small minority of individuals]...
_________________________Men's mood unaffected by hypogonadism
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2004; 61: 997–1004
A US study carried out in healthy men has shown that acute reductions in testosterone levels do not uniformly alter mood or depressive symptoms in men.
Androgen levels decrease with age in men, leading to hypogonadism in a substantial number. It has been suggested that hypogonadism can have a negative effect on mood and behavior, with some studies showing that the administration of androgens to hypogonadal men can improve mood, while the administration of testosterone has antidepressant-like effects, observe Peter Schmidt (National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland) and colleagues.
To investigate the outcome of hypogonadism further, the team studied the effects of medication-induced hypogonadism on mood in 31 healthy men aged between 23 and 46 years who had no history of psychiatric disorders.
The testosterone-lowering drug leuprolide acetate was administered to the participants every 4 weeks for 3 months. After the first month, the men received either testosterone enanthate or placebo every 2 weeks for a further month, after which they switched to the alternative treatment.
Leuprolide significantly lowered blood levels of testosterone in the men, which were then raised with the addition of testosterone replacement to levels above those seen at baseline.
The researchers found that, with the exception of hot flushes, libido, and the feeling of being emotionally charged, there was no significant difference between patients in the leuprolide plus placebo and the leuprolide plus testosterone groups with regard to mood symptoms including sadness, anxiety, irritability, mood lability, anhedonia, and decreased energy.
Despite the absence of a uniform effect of leuprolide plus placebo on mood, three men did experience clinically relevant mood symptoms during this induced hypogonadal condition, Schmidt and team report. This finding is consistent with the suggestion that "some men are differentially sensitive to alterations in androgenic steroids," they add.
Overall, however, "these data… suggest that short-term hypogonadism is sufficient to precipitate depressive symptoms in only a small minority of younger men," the team concludes. "The predictors of susceptibility remain to be determined."
http://www.medwire.md/News_single.aspx?newstype=3&date=20041008&story_id=28948
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