Prevalence of Hypogonadism in a Male Population below 60 Years of Age with Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Introduction. A high prevalence of hypogonadism (H) has been demonstrated in patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS). There are no studies in Latin America showing the prevalence of H in MetS in men below 60 years of age. The objective of this study was to determine the association between the MetS and levels of testosterone (T) and calculated free testosterone (cfT) in men under 60 years of age. Methodology. 101 men were included between 18 and 60 years who met the IDF MetS criteria. The diagnosis of H was considered <70 pg/mL of cfT and <10.4 nmol/L (300 ng/dL) of T. Results. H with T was 17.8% and 20.7% with cfT. The H according to T had higher BMI, waist circumference, visceral fat, markers of insulin resistance, SHBG, LH, and E2. We find an inverse but weak significant correlation between T, visceral fat, and HOMA index. The linear regression analysis showed that E2 and visceral fat are determinants in H. Conclusion. We found a high prevalence of H using T and cfT in Chilean patients with MetS below 60 years of age, who turned out to be more insulin-resistant and have more visceral fat, waist, and E2 than non-H.