Impact of body mass index, age and varicocele on reproductive hormone profile from elderly men

To study the impact of obesity, age and varicocele on sexual hormones of adult and elderly men.

875 men who were screened for prostate cancer were enrolled in this study. Data recorded comprised age, body mass index (BMI), serum levels of total testosterone (TT), free testosterone (FT), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicular stimulating hormone (FSH). Patients were divided in groups according to their BMI in underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese grades 1, 2 or 3. First, it was studied the association between age, BMI, and hormone profile. Then, clinical varicocele was evaluated in 298 patients to assess its correlation to the others parameters.

Obese patients had lower levels of TT, FT and SHBG (p<0.001) compared to underweight or normal weight patients. There were no differences in age (p=0.113), FSH serum levels (p=0.863) and LH serum levels (p=0.218) between obese and non-obese patients. Obese grade 3 had lower levels of TT and FT compared to obese grade 1 and 2 (p<0.05). There was no difference in the SHBG levels (p=0.120) among obese patients. There was no association between varicocele and BMI; and varicocele did not impact on testosterone or SHBG levels.

Men with higher BMI have a lower serum level of TT, FT and SHBG. The presence of clinical varicocele as well as its grade has no impact on hormone profile in elderly men.