TESTOSTERONE EFFECTS ON BONE AND FRAILTY IN MEN WITH OSTEOPOROSIS

本子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的众多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能已经从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。列出的机构是中心的，不一定是研究者的机构。对骨质疏松症的关注主要集中在女性的健康上，而很少关注男性骨质疏松性骨折的诊断和预防。然而，这种疾病在男性中也是一个重要问题。睾酮水平随着年龄的增长而下降，严重的睾酮缺乏与低骨量和骨折有关。几项流行病学研究表明，睾酮水平低与老年男性骨量低有关，但这一发现并不一致。髋部骨折的男性比对照组更容易出现睾酮缺乏。在睾酮水平低于年轻人正常范围的70岁以上男性中，我们发现生物可利用睾酮的差异占股骨颈骨密度（FN BMD）值差异的20%。该人群中FN骨密度的其他预测指标包括体重指数和体力活动，这是虚弱的两个描述参数。基于这些数据，补充睾酮可能对老年男性的骨骼健康和虚弱很重要。我们将测试睾酮补充剂可以增加髋部骨折老年男性骨矿物质密度的假设。我们还将评估睾酮对身体健康和虚弱的影响。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Attention to osteoporosis has largely emphasized women's health, and little attention has focused on the diagnosis and prevention of osteoporotic fractures in men. And yet the disease is also an important problem in men. Testosterone levels decline with advancing age, and severe testosterone deficiency is associated with low bone mass and fracture. Several epidemiologic studies suggest that low testosterone is associated with low bone mass in older men, but this finding is not consistent. Men with hip fracture are found to be testosterone deficient more often than control subjects. Among men over age 70 with testosterone levels below the young normal range, we found differences in bioavailable testosterone accounted for 20% of the variance in femoral neck bone mineral density (FN BMD) values. Additional predictors of FN BMD in this population incuded body mass index and physical activity, two described parameters of frailty. Based on these data, testosterone supplementation may be important for bone health and frailty in older men. We will test the hypothesis that testosterone supplementation can increase bone mineral density in older men with hip fracture. We will also evaluate the effects of testosterone on physical health and frailty.