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Nathan Goodyear

Inflammation and insulin resistance 10.1016/j.febslet.2007.11.057 : FEBS Letters | Scie... - 0 views

www.sciencedirect.com/...S0014579307012082

inflammation insulin resistance IR PPAR TNF-alpha IL-6 IL-10 IL-1Beta JNK GLT-4 Resistin adiponectin Gherlin NF-kapppB iNOS lkkb obesity TLR-4

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 10 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • A subsequent study by Yuan et al. showed that Tnf treatment of 3T3L1 adipocytes induces insulin resistance and that this could be prevented by pretreatment of cells with aspirin
  • Activation of the Tnf receptor results in stimulation of NFκB signaling via Ikkb
  • Insulin is a pleiotropic hormone
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  • the percentage of macrophages in a given adipose tissue depot is positively correlated with adiposity and adipocyte size
  • Il-10 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine produced by macrophages and lymphocytes
  • Il-10 exerts its anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting Tnf-induced NFκB activation by reducing IKK activity [38]
  • adipose tissue macrophages are responsible for nearly all adipose tissue Tnf expression and a significant portion of Nos2 and Il6 expression
  • One theory holds that the expansion of adipose tissue leads to adipocyte hypertrophy and hyperplasia and that large adipocytes outstrip the local oxygen supply leading to cell autonomous hypoxia with activation of cellular stress pathways
  • The use of the anti-inflammatory compounds, salicylate and its derivative aspirin, for treating symptoms of T2DM dates back over 100 years
  • elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin (IL-8) have all been reported in various diabetic and insulin resistant states
  • overnutrition and obesity are often accompanied by elevations in tissue and circulating FFA concentrations, and saturated FFAs can directly activate pro-inflammatory responses
  • Adipokines such as resistin, leptin and adiponectin, which are secreted by adipocytes, can also affect inflammation and insulin sensitivity
  • In skeletal muscle insulin promotes glucose uptake by stimulating translocation of the GLUT4 glucose transporter
  • macrophages are also capable of undergoing a phenotypic switch from an M1 state, which was defined as the “classically activated” pro-inflammatory macrophage, to the M2 state or the “alternatively activated” non-inflammatory cell
  • saturated fatty acids are the most potent inducers of this inflammatory response
  • Several inducers of insulin resistance, including FFAs, pro-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress, activate the expression of Nos2, the gene that encodes iNOS (reviewed in [33]
  • Adipose tissue insulin signaling results in decreased hormone sensitive lipase activity and this anti-lipolytic effect inhibits free fatty acid (FFA) efflux out of adipocytes.
  • In the liver, insulin inhibits the expression of key gluconeogenic enzymes and, therefore, insulin resistance in liver leads to elevated hepatic glucose production
  • elevated JNK activity in liver, adipose tissue and skeletal muscle of obese insulin resistant mice, and knockout of Jnk1 (Jnk1−/−) leads to amelioration of insulin resistance in high fat diet
  • Adipose tissue from obese mice contains proportionately more M1 macrophages, whereas, lean adipose tissue contains more M2 macrophages, and increased M1 content positively correlates with inflammation, macrophage infiltration and insulin resistance
  • C-reactive protein (CRP)
  • these studies highlight the possibility that increased iNOS activity plays a direct role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance
  • the important role of Ikkb in the development of obesity and inflammation-induced insulin resistance.
  • It is probable that local concentrations of inflammatory mediators, such as FFAs, Tnf or other cytokines/adipokines contribute to this polarity switch
  • Tnf and other cytokines/chemokines are symptomatic of inflammation, and while they propagate and/or maintain the inflammatory state, they are not the initial cause(s) of inflammation
  • Tlr4, in particular, is stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an endotoxin released by gram-negative bacteria
  • Tlr4 belongs to the family of Toll-like receptors that function as pattern recognition receptors that guard against microorganismal infections as part of the innate immune system.
  • Tlr4 stimulation results in the activation of both Ikkb/NFκB and JNK/AP-1 signaling, culminating in the expression and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines, including, Il1b, IL-6, Tnf, Mcp1, etc. (reviewed in [57
  • Nathan Goodyear on 10 Jan 12
     
    Great review of all the known components in the inflammation, insulin resistance link
Nathan Goodyear

Cortisol Exerts Bi-Phasic Regulation of Inflammation in Humans - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...PMC3186928

cortisol glucocorticoids inflammation hormones

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 12 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • GCs induce increased cellular expression of receptors for several pro-inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1 (Spriggs et al. 1990), IL-2 (Wiegers et al. 1995), IL-4 (Paterson et al. 1994), IL-6 (Snyers et al. 1990), and IFN-g (Strickland et al. 1986), as well as GM-CSF
  • GCs have also been shown to stimulate effector cell functions including phagocytosis by monocytes (van der Goes et al. 2000), effector cell proliferative responses (Spriggs et al. 1990), macrophage activation (Sorrells and Sapolsky 2010), and a delay of neutrophil apoptosis
  • a concentration- and time-dependent range of GC effects that are both pro- and anti-inflammatory
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • basal (diurnal) concentrations of cortisol do not exert an anti-inflammatory effect on several pro-and anti-inflammatory mediators of the human immune inflammatory response
  • withdrawal of cortisol activity in vivo did not lead to increased inflammatory responsiveness of immune effector cells
  • maximal suppression of inflammation was achieved by a stress-associated, but still physiologic, cortisol concentration. There was no greater anti-inflammatory effect at higher cortisol concentrations (Yeager et al. 2005) although IL-10 concentrations continued to increase with increasing cortisol concentrations as we and others have shown
  • acutely, physiological cortisol concentrations are anti-inflammatory and, as proposed, act to limit over expression of an inflammatory response that could lead to tissue damage
  • Acutely, cortisol has anti-inflammatory effects following a systemic inflammatory stimulus (Figure 4). However, a cortisol concentration that acts acutely to suppress systemic inflammation also has a delayed effect of augmenting the inflammatory response to subsequent, delayed stimulu
  • 1) GCs can exert pro-inflammatory effects on key inflammatory processes and, 2) GC regulation of inflammation can vary from anti- to a pro-inflammatory in a time-dependent manner
  • The immediate in vivo effect of both stress-induced and pharmacological GC concentrations is to suppress concurrent inflammation and protect the organism from an excessive or prolonged inflammatory response
  • GCs alone, in the absence of an inflammatory stimulus, up-regulate monocyte mRNA and/or receptors for several molecules that participate in pro-inflammatory signaling, as noted above and in the studies presented here.
  • In humans, as shown here, if in vivo GC concentrations are elevated concurrent with an inflammatory stimulus, anti-inflammatory effects are observed
  • In sharp contrast, with a time delay of 12 or more hours between an increased GC concentration and the onset of an inflammatory stimulus, enhancing effects on inflammation are observed. These effects have been shown to persist in humans for up to 6 days
  • GC-induced enhancement of inflammatory responses is maximal at an intermediate concentration, in our studies at a concentration that approximates that observed in vivo following a major systemic inflammatory stimulus
  • In addition to enhanced responses to LPS, recently identified pro-inflammatory effects of GCs also show enhanced localization of effector cells at inflammatory sites
  • we hypothesize that pre-exposure to stress-associated cortisol concentrations “prime” effector cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage for an augmented pro-inflammatory response by; a) inducing preparative changes in key regulators of LPS signal transduction, and b) enhancing localization of inflammatory effector cells at potential sites of injury
  • Nathan Goodyear on 12 Oct 16
     
    very interesting read on the effects of inflammation on cortisol and visa versa.
Nathan Goodyear

Testosterone: a metabolic hormone in health and disease - 0 views

joe.endocrinology-journals.org/...R25.full

male hormone hormones testosterone hypogonadal-obesity-adipocytokine hypothesis

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 08 May 13 - No Cached
  • E2 and the inflammatory adipocytokines tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα) and interleukin 6 (IL6) inhibit hypothalamic production of GNRH and subsequent release of LH and FSH from the pituitary
  • Leptin, an adipose-derived hormone with a well-known role in regulation of body weight and food intake, also induces LH release under normal conditions via stimulation of hypothalamic GNRH neurons
  • In human obesity, whereby adipocytes are producing elevated amounts of leptin, the hypothalamic–pituitary axis becomes leptin resistant
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  • there is evidence from animal studies that leptin resistance, inflammation and oestrogens inhibit neuronal release of kisspeptin
  • Beyond hypothalamic action, leptin also directly inhibits the stimulatory action of gonadotrophins on the Leydig cells of the testis to decrease testosterone production; therefore, elevated leptin levels in obesity may further diminish androgen status
  • Prostate cancer patients with pre-existing T2DM show a further deterioration of insulin resistance and worsening of diabetic control following ADT
  • ADT for the treatment of prostatic carcinoma in some large epidemiological studies has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of developing MetS and T2DM
  • Non-diabetic men undergoing androgen ablation show increased occurrence of new-onset diabetes and demonstrate elevated insulin levels and worsening glycaemic control
  • increasing insulin resistance assessed by glucose tolerence test and hypoglycemic clamp was shown to be associated with a decrease in Leydig cell testosterone secretion in men
  • The response to testosterone replacement of insulin sensitivity is in part dependent on the androgen receptor (AR)
  • Low levels of testosterone have been associated with an atherogenic lipoprotein profile, characterised by high LDL and triglyceride levels
  • a positive correlation between serum testosterone and HDL has been reported in both healthy and diabetic men
  • up to 70% of the body's insulin sensitivity is accounted for by muscle
  • Testosterone deficiency is associated with a decrease in lean body mass
  • relative muscle mass is inversely associated with insulin resistance and pre-diabetes
  • GLUT4 and IRS1 were up-regulated in cultured adipocytes and skeletal muscle cells following testosterone treatment at low dose and short-time incubations
  • local conversion of testosterone to DHT and activation of AR may be important for glucose uptake
  • inverse correlation between testosterone levels and adverse mitochondrial function
  • orchidectomy of male Wistar rats and associated testosterone deficiency induced increased absorption of glucose from the intestine
  • (Kelley & Mandarino 2000). Frederiksen et al. (2012a) recently demonstrated that testosterone may influence components of metabolic flexibility as 6 months of transdermal testosterone treatment in aging men with low–normal bioavailable testosterone levels increased lipid oxidation and decreased glucose oxidation during the fasting state.
  • Decreased lipid oxidation coupled with diet-induced chronic FA elevation is linked to increased accumulation of myocellular lipid, in particular diacylglycerol and/or ceramide in myocytes
  • In the Chang human adult liver cell line, insulin receptor mRNA expression was significantly increased following exposure to testosterone
  • Testosterone deprivation via castration of male rats led to decreased expression of Glut4 in liver tissue, as well as adipose and muscle
  • oestrogen was found to increase the expression of insulin receptors in insulin-resistant HepG2 human liver cell line
  • FFA decrease hepatic insulin binding and extraction, increase hepatic gluconeogenesis and increase hepatic insulin resistance.
  • Only one, albeit large-scale, population-based cross-sectional study reports an association between low serum testosterone concentrations and hepatic steatosis in men (Völzke et al. 2010)
  • This suggests that testosterone may confer some of its beneficial effects on hepatic lipid metabolism via conversion to E2 and subsequent activation of ERα.
  • hypogonadal men exhibiting a reduced lean body mass and an increased fat mass, abdominal or central obesity
  • visceral adipose tissue was inversely correlated with bioavailable testosterone
  • there was no change in visceral fat mass in aged men with low testosterone levels following 6 months of transdermal TRT, yet subcutaneous fat mass was significantly reduced in both the thigh and the abdominal areas when analysed by MRI (Frederiksen et al. 2012b)
  • ADT of prostate cancer patients increased both visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat in a 12-month prospective observational study (Hamilton et al. 2011)
  • Catecholamines are the major lipolysis regulating hormones in man and regulate adipocyte lipolysis through activation of adenylate cyclase to produce cAMP
  • deficiency of androgen action decreases lipolysis and is primarily responsible for the induction of obesity (Yanase et al. 2008)
  • may be some regional differences in the action of testosterone on subcutaneous and visceral adipose function
  • proinflammatory adipocytokines IL1, IL6 and TNFα are increased in obesity with a downstream effect that stimulates liver production of CRP
  • observational evidence suggests that IL1β, IL6, TNFα and CRP are inversely associated with serum testosterone levels in patients
  • TRT has been reported to significantly reduce these proinflammatory mediators
  • This suggests a role for AR in the metabolic actions of testosterone on fat accumulation and adipose tissue inflammatory response
  • testosterone treatment may have beneficial effects on preventing the pathogenesis of obesity by inhibiting adipogenesis, decreasing triglyceride uptake and storage, increasing lipolysis, influencing lipoprotein content and function and may directly reduce fat mass and increase muscle mass
  • Early interventional studies suggest that TRT in hypogonadal men with T2DM and/or MetS has beneficial effects on lipids, adiposity and parameters of insulin sensitivity and glucose control
  • Evidence that whole-body insulin sensitivity is reduced in testosterone deficiency and increases with testosterone replacement supports a key role of this hormone in glucose and lipid metabolism
  • Impaired insulin sensitivity in these three tissues is characterised by defects in insulin-stimulated glucose transport activity, in particular into skeletal muscle, impaired insulin-mediated inhibition of hepatic glucose production and stimulation of glycogen synthesis in liver, and a reduced ability of insulin to inhibit lipolysis in adipose tissue
  • Nathan Goodyear on 08 May 13
     
    Great review of the Hypogonadal-obesity-adipocytokine hypothesis.
Nathan Goodyear

Testosterone: a vascular hormone in health and disease - 0 views

joe.endocrinology-journals.org/...R47.full

testosterone hormone health disease hormones men male cardiovascular disease CVD

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 13 May 13 - No Cached
  • Testosterone has beneficial effects on several cardiovascular risk factors, which include cholesterol, endothelial dysfunction and inflammation
  • In clinical studies, acute and chronic testosterone administration increases coronary artery diameter and flow, improves cardiac ischaemia and symptoms in men with chronic stable angina and reduces peripheral vascular resistance in chronic heart failure.
  • testosterone is an L-calcium channel blocker and induces potassium channel activation in vascular smooth muscle cells
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  • Animal studies have consistently demonstrated that testosterone is atheroprotective, whereas testosterone deficiency promotes the early stages of atherogenesis
  • there is no compelling evidence that testosterone replacement to levels within the normal healthy range contributes adversely to the pathogenesis of CVD (Carson & Rosano 2011) or prostate cancer (Morgentaler & Schulman 2009)
  • bidirectional effect between decreased testosterone concentrations and disease pathology exists as concomitant cardiovascular risk factors (including inflammation, obesity and insulin resistance) are known to reduce testosterone levels and that testosterone confers beneficial effects on these cardiovascular risk factors
  • Achieving a normal physiological testosterone concentration through the administration of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) has been shown to improve risk factors for atherosclerosis including reducing central adiposity and insulin resistance and improving lipid profiles (in particular, lowering cholesterol), clotting and inflammatory profiles and vascular function
  • It is well known that impaired erectile function and CVD are closely related in that ED can be the first clinical manifestation of atherosclerosis often preceding a cardiovascular event by 3–5 years
  • no decrease in the response (i.e. no tachyphylaxis) of testosterone and that patient benefit persists in the long term.
  • free testosterone levels within the physiological range, has been shown to result in a marked increase in both flow- and nitroglycerin-mediated brachial artery vasodilation in men with CAD
  • Clinical studies, however, have revealed either small reductions of 2–3 mm in diastolic pressure or no significant effects when testosterone is replaced within normal physiological limits in humans
  • Endothelium-independent mechanisms of testosterone are considered to occur primarily via the inhibition of voltage-operated Ca2+ channels (VOCCs) and/or activation of K+ channels (KCs) on smooth muscle cells (SMCs)
  • Testosterone shares the same molecular binding site as nifedipine
  • Testosterone increases the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and enhances nitric oxide (NO) production
  • Testosterone also inhibited the Ca2+ influx response to PGF2α
  • one of the major actions of testosterone is on NO and its signalling pathways
  • In addition to direct effects on NOS expression, testosterone may also affect phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5 (PDE5A)) gene expression, an enzyme controlling the degradation of cGMP, which acts as a vasodilatory second messenger
  • the significance of the action of testosterone on VSMC apoptosis and proliferation in atherosclerosis is difficult to delineate and may be dependent upon the stage of plaque development
  • Several human studies have shown that carotid IMT (CIMT) and aortic calcification negatively correlate with serum testosterone
  • t long-term testosterone treatment reduced CIMT in men with low testosterone levels and angina
  • neither intracellular nor membrane-associated ARs are required for the rapid vasodilator effect
  • acute responses appear to be AR independent, long-term AR-mediated effects on the vasculature have also been described, primarily in the context of vascular tone regulation via the modulation of gene transcription
  • Testosterone and DHT increased the expression of eNOS in HUVECs
  • oestrogens have been shown to activate eNOS and stimulate NO production in an ERα-dependent manner
  • Several studies, however, have demonstrated that the vasodilatory actions of testosterone are not reduced by aromatase inhibition
  • non-aromatisable DHT elicited similar vasodilation to testosterone treatment in arterial smooth muscle
  • increased endothelial NOS (eNOS) expression and phosphorylation were observed in testosterone- and DHT-treated human umbilical vein endothelial cells
  • Androgen deprivation leads to a reduction in neuronal NOS expression associated with a decrease of intracavernosal pressure in penile arteries during erection, an effect that is promptly reversed by androgen replacement therapy
  • Observational evidence suggests that several pro-inflammatory cytokines (including interleukin 1β (IL1β), IL6, tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), and highly sensitive CRP) and serum testosterone levels are inversely associated in patients with CAD, T2DM and/or hypogonadism
  • patients with the highest IL1β concentrations had lower endogenous testosterone levels
  • TRT has been reported to significantly reduce TNFα and elevate the circulating anti-inflammatory IL10 in hypogonadal men with CVD
  • testosterone treatment to normalise levels in hypogonadal men with the MetS resulted in a significant reduction in the circulating CRP, IL1β and TNFα, with a trend towards lower IL6 compared with placebo
  • parenteral testosterone undecanoate, CRP decreased significantly in hypogonadal elderly men
  • Higher levels of serum adiponectin have been shown to lower cardiovascular risk
  • Research suggests that the expression of VCAM-1, as induced by pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNFα or interferon γ (IFNγ (IFNG)) in endothelial cells, can be attenuated by treatment with testosterone
  • Testosterone also inhibits the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL6, IL1β and TNFα in a range of cell types including human endothelial cells
  • decreased inflammatory response to TNFα and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in human endothelial cells when treated with DHT
  • The key to unravelling the link between testosterone and its role in atherosclerosis may lay in the understanding of testosterone signalling and the cross-talk between receptors and intracellular events that result in pro- and/or anti-inflammatory actions in athero-sensitive cells.
  • testosterone functions through the AR to modulate adhesion molecule expression
  • pre-treatment with DHT reduced the cytokine-stimulated inflammatory response
  • DHT inhibited NFκB activation
  • DHT could inhibit an LPS-induced upregulation of MCP1
  • Both NFκB and AR act at the transcriptional level and have been experimentally found to be antagonistic to each other
  • As the AR and NFκB are mutual antagonists, their interaction and influence on functions can be bidirectional, with inflammatory agents that activate NFκB interfering with normal androgen signalling as well as the AR interrupting NFκB inflammatory transcription
  • prolonged exposure of vascular cells to the inflammatory activation of NFκB associated with atherosclerosis may reduce or alter any potentially protective effects of testosterone
  • DHT and IFNγ also modulate each other's signalling through interaction at the transcriptional level, suggesting that androgens down-regulate IFN-induced genes
  • (Simoncini et al. 2000a,b). Norata et al. (2010) suggest that part of the testosterone-mediated atheroprotective effects could depend on ER activation mediated by the testosterone/DHT 3β-derivative, 3β-Adiol
  • TNFα-induced induction of ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and E-selectin as well as MCP1 and IL6 was significantly reduced by a pre-incubation with 3β-Adiol in HUVECs
  • 3β-Adiol also reduced LPS-induced gene expression of IL6, TNFα, cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2 (PTGS2)), CD40, CX3CR1, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, MMP9, resistin, pentraxin-3 and MCP1 in the monocytic cell line U937 (Norata et al. 2010)
  • This study suggests that testosterone metabolites, other than those generated through aromatisation, could exert anti-inflammatory effects that are mediated by ER activation.
  • The authors suggest that DHT differentially effects COX2 levels under physiological and pathophysiological conditions in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells and via AR-dependent and -independent mechanisms influenced by the physiological state of the cell
  • There are, however, a number of systematic meta-analyses of clinical trials of TRT that have not demonstrated an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events or mortality
  • The TOM trial, which was designed to investigate the effect of TRT on frailty in elderly men, was terminated prematurely as a result of an increased incidence of cardiovascular-related events after 6 months in the treatment arm
  • trials of TRT in men with either chronic stable angina or chronic cardiac failure have also found no increase in either cardiovascular events or mortality in studies up to 12 months
  • Evidence may therefore suggest that low testosterone levels and testosterone levels above the normal range have an adverse effect on CVD, whereas testosterone levels titrated to within the mid- to upper-normal range have at least a neutral effect or, taking into account the knowledge of the beneficial effects of testosterone on a series of cardiovascular risk factors, there may possibly be a cardioprotective action
  • The effect of testosterone on human vascular function is a complex issue and may be dependent upon the underlying androgen and/or disease status.
  • the majority of studies suggest that testosterone may display both acute and chronic vasodilatory effects upon various vascular beds at both physiological and supraphysiological concentrations and via endothelium-dependent and -independent mechanisms
  • Nathan Goodyear on 13 May 13
     
    Good deep look into the testosterone and CVD link.
Nathan Goodyear

Anti-inflammatory effect of proteoglyca - PubMed Mobile - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...22314502

progesterone LPS inflammation anti-inflammatory TLR4 BHRT HRT hormone hormones

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 07 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • Nathan Goodyear on 07 Jun 12
     
    progesterone inhibits LPS stimulated inflammation.  Progesterone actually inhibits TLR4 activation.  The statement that progesterone has no place in hormone therapy is both uneducated and uninformed.
Nathan Goodyear

Testosterone level in men with type 2 diabetes mellitus and related metabolic... - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...PMC4364844

low T low Testosterone Diabetes Testosterone men male hormones metabolic syndrome

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 30 Mar 15 - No Cached
  • defined by consistent symptoms and signs of androgen deficiency, and an unequivocally low serum testosterone level
  • the threshold serum testosterone level below which adverse clinical outcomes occur in the general population is not known
  • most population-based studies use the serum testosterone level corresponding to the lower limit, quoted from 8.7 to 12.7 nmol/L, of the normal range for young Caucasian men as the threshold
    • Nathan Goodyear
      Nathan Goodyear on 31 Mar 15
       
      this equals 251 to 366 in serum Total Testosterone
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  • Researchers tried to examine whether serum total or free testosterone would be a better/more reliable choice when studying the effect of testosterone. The results were mixed. Some reported significant associations of both serum total and free testosterone level with clinical parameters25, whereas others reported that only serum free testosterone26 or only serum total testosterone6 showed significant associations.
  • −0.124 nmol/L/year in serum total testosterone
    • Nathan Goodyear
      Nathan Goodyear on 31 Mar 15
       
      this equates to a 4 ng/dl decline annually in total Testosterone.
  • In experimental studies, androgen receptor knockout mice developed significant insulin resistance rapidly
  • In mouse models, testosterone promoted differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to the myogenic lineage
  • testosterone decreased insulin resistance by enhancing catecholamine induced lipolysis in vitro, and reducing lipoprotein lipase activity and triglyceride uptake in human abdominal tissue in vivo
  • by promoting lipolysis and myogenesis, testosterone might lead to improved insulin resistance
  • testosterone regulated skeletal muscle genes involved in glucose metabolism that led to decreased systemic insulin resistance
  • In the liver, hepatic androgen receptor signaling inhibited development of insulin resistance in mice
  • independent and inverse association of testosterone with hepatic steatosis shown in a cross-sectional study carried out in humans
  • In short, androgen improves insulin resistance by changing body composition and reducing body fat.
  • Although a low serum testosterone level could contribute to the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes through changes in body composition, obesity might also alter the metabolism of testosterone
  • In obese men, the peripheral conversion from testosterone to estrogen could attenuate the amplitude of luteinizing hormone pulses and centrally inhibit testosterone production
  • leptin, an adipokine, has been shown to be inversely correlated with serum testosterone level in men
  • Leydig cells expressed leptin receptors and leptin has been shown to inhibit testosterone secretion, suggesting a role of obesity and leptin in the pathogenesis of low testosterone
    • Nathan Goodyear
      Nathan Goodyear on 31 Mar 15
       
      So what is "unequivocal"?
  • Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) cohort made up of 3,565 middle-class, mostly Caucasian men from the USA, the incidence of low serum total testosterone increased from approximately 20% of men aged over 60 years, 30% over 70 years, to 50% over 80 years-of-age
  • 30–44% sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG)-bound testosterone and 54–68% albumin-bound testosterone
  • As the binding of testosterone to albumin is non-specific and therefore not tight, the sum of free and albumin-bound testosterone is named bioavailable testosterone, which reflects the hormone available at the cellular level
  • Serum total testosterone is composed of 0.5–3.0% of free testosterone unbound to plasma proteins
  • alterations in SHBG concentration might affect total serum testosterone level without altering free or bioavailable testosterone
  • listed in Table​T
  • A significant, independent and longitudinal effect of age on testosterone has been observed with an average change of −0.124 nmol/L/year in serum total testosterone28. The same trend has been shown in Europe and Australia
  • Asian men residing in HK and Japan, but not those living in the USA, had 20% higher serum total testosterone than in Caucasians living in the USA, as shown in a large multinational observational prospective cohort of the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study
  • subjects with chronic diseases consistently had a 10–15% lower level compared with age-matched healthy subjects
  • In Caucasians, the mean serum total testosterone level for men in large epidemiological studies has been reported to range from 15.1 to 16.6 nmol/L
  • Asians, higher values, ranging from 18.1 to 19.1 nmol/L, were seen in Korea and Japan
  • Chinese middle-aged men reported a similar mean serum testosterone level of 17.1 nmol/L in 179 men who had a family history of type 2 diabetes and 17.8 nmol/L in 128 men who had no family history of type 2 diabetes
  • The reduction of total testosterone was 0.4% per year in both groups
  • HK involving a cohort of 1,489 community-dwelling men with a mean age of 72 years, a mean serum total testosterone of 19.0 nmol/L was reported
  • pro-inflammatory factors, such as tumor necrosis factor-α in the testes, could locally inhibit testosterone biosynthesis in Leydig cells47, and testosterone treatment in men was shown to reduce the level of tumor necrosis factor-α
  • In Asians, a genetic deletion polymorphism of uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyltransferase UGT2B17 was associated with reduced androgen glucuronidation. This resulted in higher level of active androgen in Asians as compared to Caucasians, as Caucasians' androgen would be glucuronidated into inactive forms faster.
  • Compared with Caucasians, the frequency of this deletion polymorphism of UGT2B17 was 22-fold higher in Asian subjects
  • Other researchers have suggested that environmental, but not genetic, factors influenced serum total testosterone
  • The basal and ligand-induced activity of the AR is inversely associated with the length of the CAG repeat chain
  • In the European Male Aging Study, increased estrogen/androgen ratio in association with longer AR CAG repeat was observed
  • a smaller number of AR CAG repeat had been shown to be associated with benign prostate hypertrophy and faster prostate growth during testosterone treatment
  • In India, men with CAG ≤19 had increased risk of prostate cancer
  • the odds of having a short CAG repeat (≤17) were substantially higher in patients with lymph node-positive prostate cancer than in those with lymph node-negative disease or in the general population
  • assessing the polymorphism at the AR level could be a potential tool towards individualized assessment and treatment of hypogonadism.
  • In elderly men, there was reduced testicular response to gonadotropins with suppressed and altered pulsatility of the hypothalamic pulse generator
  • a significant, independent and longitudinal effect of age on serum total testosterone level had been observed
  • A significant graded inverse association between serum testosterone level and insulin levels independent of age has also been reported in Caucasian men
  • Low testosterone is commonly associated with a high prevalence of MES
  • most studies showed that changes in serum testosterone level led to changes in body composition, insulin resistance and the presence of MES, the reverse might also be possible
  • MES predicted a 2.6-fold increased risk of development of low serum testosterone level independent of age, smoking and other potential confounders
  • Other prospective studies have shown that development of MES accelerated the age-related decline in serum testosterone level
  • In men with type 2 diabetes, changes in serum testosterone level over time correlated inversely with changes in insulin resistance
  • weight loss by either diet control or bariatric surgery led to a substantial increase in total testosterone, especially in morbidly obese men, and the rise in serum testosterone level was proportional to the amount of weight lost
  • To date, published clinical trials are small, of short duration and often used pharmacological, not physiological, doses of testosterone
  • In the population-based Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study cohort from Sweden, men in the highest quartile of serum testosterone level had the lowest risk of cardiovascular events compared with men in the other three quartiles (hazard ratio [HR] 0.70
  • low serum total testosterone was associated with a significant fourfold higher risk of cardiovascular events when comparing men from the lowest testosterone tertile with those in the highest tertile
  • Shores et al. were the first to report that low serum testosterone level, including both serum total and free testosterone, was associated with increased mortality
  • low serum total testosterone predicted increased risk of cardiovascular mortality with a HR of 1.38
  • low serum total testosterone increased all-cause (HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.13–1.62, P < 0.001) and cardiovascular mortality (HR 1.25
  • European Association for the Study of Diabetes 2013 suggested there was an inverse relationship between serum testosterone level and acute myocardial infarction
  • Diabetic men in the highest quartile of serum total testosterone had a significantly reduced risk of acute MI when compared with those in the lower quartiles
  • serum total testosterone level in the middle two quartiles at baseline predicted reduced incidence of death compared with having the highest and lowest levels
  • Nathan Goodyear on 30 Mar 15
     
    Nice review of Testosterone levels and some of the evidence linking Diabetes with low T.  However, the conclusion by the authors regarding what is causing the low T in men with Diabetes is baffling.  The literature does not point to one cause, it is clearly multifactorial--obesity, inflammation, high aromatase activity...I would suggest the authors continue their readings in the manner.
Nathan Goodyear

How We Read Oncologic FDG PET/CT | Cancer Imaging | Full Text - 0 views

cancerimagingjournal.biomedcentral.com/...s40644-016-0091-3

PET_CT PET scan CT cancer

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 20 Feb 18 - No Cached
  • In early PET literature focusing on analysis of solitary pulmonary nodules, some researchers defined malignancy based on a SUVmax threshold of greater than 2.5
  • We contend that SUV analysis has virtually no role in this setting.
  • tumours grow as spheres, whereas inflammatory processes are typically linear
  • ...35 more annotations...
  • Far more important than the SUVmax is the pattern rather than intensity of metabolic abnormality and the correlative CT findings
  • Descriptively, we define SUV < 5 as “low intensity”, 5–10 as “moderate”, 10–15 as “intense” and >15 as “very intense”
  • Evolving literature suggests that intensity of uptake is an independent prognostic factor and in some tumour subtypes superior to histopathologic characterisation.
  • aerobic glycolysis
  • Our practice of thresholding the grey and colour scale to liver as detailed above results in similar image intensity to a fixed upper SUV threshold of 8 to 10
  • The advantage of using the liver as a reference tissue is also aided by this organ having rather low variability in metabolic activity
  • When the liver is abnormal and cannot be used as a reference organ, we use the default SUV setting of an upper SUV threshold of 8
  • One of the most challenging aspects of oncologic FDG PET/CT review, however, is to recognise all the patterns of metabolic activity that are not malignant and which consequently confound interpretation
  • Many benign and inflammatory processes are also associated with high glycolytic activity
  • Future articles in the “How I Read” series will address the specific details of reading PET/CT in various cancers
  • The intensity of uptake in metastases usually parallels that in the primary site of disease
  • For example, discordant low-grade activity in an enlarged lymph node in the setting of intense uptake in the primary tumour suggests it is unlikely malignant and more likely inflammatory or reactive
  • By CT criteria the enlarged node is ‘pathologic’ but the discordantly low metabolic signature further characterises this is as non-malignant since such a node is not subject to partial volume effects and therefore the intensity of uptake should be similar to the primary site
  • The exception is when the lymph node is centrally necrotic as a small rim of viable tumour is subject to partial volume effects with expectant lower intensity of uptake; integrating the CT morphology is therefore critical to reaching an accurate interpretation
  • Small nodes that are visualised on PET are conversely much more likely to be metastatic as such nodes are subject to partial volume effects.
  • The exception to this rule is tumours with a propensity for tumour heterogeneity at different sites
  • The combination of FDG and a more specific tracer, which visualises the well-differentiated disease can be very useful to characterise this phenomenon
  • “metabolic signature”
  • For the majority of malignant processes, the intensity of metabolic abnormality correlates with degree of aggressiveness or proliferative rate.
  • a negative PET/CT study in a patient with biopsy proven malignancy would be considered false-negative
  • Warburg effect
  • There, however, are a significant minority of tumours that utilise substrates other glucose such as glutamine or fatty acids as a source of the carbon atoms required for growth and proliferation
  • This includes a subset of diffuse gastric adenocarcinomas, signet cell colonic adenocarcinomas and some sarcomas, particularly liposarcoma
  • There may be a role for other radiotracers such as fluorothymidine (FLT) or amino acid substrates in this setting.
  • Some tumours harbour mutations that result in defective aerobic mitochondrial energy metabolism, effectively simulating the Warburg effect
  • patients with hereditary paraganglioma and pheochromocytoma highlight this phenomenon
  • These have intense uptake on FDG PET/CT despite often having low proliferative rate.
  • Uterine fibroids, hepatic adenomas, fibroadenomas of the breast and desmoid tumours are benign or relatively benign lesions that can have quite high FDG-avidity.
  • Metabolic activity switches off rapidly following initiation of therapy
  • Common examples where patients have commenced active therapy but the referrer is requesting “staging” includes hormonal therapy (eg. tamoxifen) in breast cancer, oral capecitabine in colorectal cancer or high dose steroids in Hodgkin’s lymphoma
  • It is therefore critical to perform PET staging before commencement of anti-tumour therapy
  • The potential advantage of routine diagnostic CT is improved anatomic localisation and definition
  • Without intravenous contrast, additional identification of typical oncologic complications such as pulmonary embolism or venous thrombosis cannot be identified
  • If the study is performed as an “interim” restaging study after commencement of therapy but before completion, in order to reach a valid or clinically useful conclusion findings must be interpreted in the context of known changes that occur at a specific timing and type of therapy
  • The most well studied use of interim PET is in Hodgkin’s lymphoma where repeat PET after two cycles of ABVD-chemotherapy provides powerful prognostic information and may improve outcomes by enabling early change of management
  • Nathan Goodyear on 20 Feb 18
     
    good read on the PET/CT scan reading.  They mention that tumors are spheres and inflammation is linear, yet inflammation coexists with cancer; hard to simply delineate these on simple terms. I do agree aon the metabolic signature of the PET/CT scan
Nathan Goodyear

Increased Endogenous Estrogen Synthesis Leads to the Sequential Induction of Prostatic ... - 0 views

www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/...fulltext

estrogen Testosterone inflammation aromatase men male hormone hormones prostate prostatitis prostate cancer

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 21 Aug 13 - No Cached
  • Nathan Goodyear on 21 Aug 13
     
    Estrogens, through elevated aromatase activity, in men is associated with increased inflammation and thus prostatitis and precancerous conditions of the prostate.
Nathan Goodyear

Testosterone Treatment and Sexual Function in Older Men with Low Testosterone Levels: T... - 0 views

press.endocrine.org/...jc.2016-1645

low T low Testosterone Testosterone male hormones libido ED estradiol hormones

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 13 Jul 16 - No Cached
  • Nathan Goodyear on 13 Jul 16
     
    new study finds that men >65 with low libido and Testosterone levels < 275 increase sexual function with Testosterone therapy.  Only libido was improved; no benefit to erectile function was noted--note that is likely due to depleted NO.  Given time that should improve with he increase in NO synthase and thus NO.  I have a fault with on elf the comments on this study: they point out that increased free Testosterone and estradiol levels were associated with improved sexual activity.  This lacks an understanding of the physiology.  In men with low T > 65, the majority are dealing with inflammation and excess weight; all of which increase aromatase activity and thus estradiol activity.  This does not indicate that an increase in estradiol activity is associated with improved libido in men.  How can elevated estrogen levels lead to low T and then increase levels are associated with improved libido?  This is merely a reflection of the body's dysfunctional physiology.  This observation of increased estradiol by no means shows cause and effect.  Scientists need to due a better job in vetting what they write!
Nathan Goodyear

Sex hormones influence on the immune system: basic and... [Lupus. 2004] - PubMed - NCBI - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...15485092

hormones hormone estrogen estradiol Lupus autoimmune disease inflammation

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 31 Jul 13 - No Cached
  • Nathan Goodyear on 31 Jul 13
     
    Estrogens appear to have an immune stimulatory effect in the presence of inflammatory cytokines.  The estrogens appear to increase inflammation through activation of NFkappaB.  But of course, not all estrogens are equal.  This article is primarily referencing E2.  I would expect E1 due to its preference for ER alpha, but not E3, due to its ER beta preference.
Nathan Goodyear

Association between endogenous sex steroid hormones and inflammatory biomarkers in US men - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...PMC3812341

low Testosterone Estrogen Estradiol low T Testosterone hormone hormones CRP inflammation SHBG WBC men male

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 28 Apr 15 - No Cached
  • modest statistically significant inverse associations for total and calculated free testosterone, and modest positive associations for total and calculated free estradiol with CRP concentration
  • Estradiol concentrations were also weakly positively associated with WBC count
  • SHBG was weakly inversely associated with WBC
  • ...21 more annotations...
  • An association between testosterone and WBC count was not observed
  • These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that in men higher androgen concentration is anti-inflammatory, and higher estrogen concentration is pro-inflammatory.
  • the probability of elevated CRP concentrations (≥ 3 mg/L) decreased with higher total and calculated free testosterone concentrations, while the probability increased with higher total and calculated free estradiol concentrations
  • there is ample evidence supporting the immunosuppressive effect of androgens
  • The incidence of autoimmune diseases is higher in androgen-deficient men
  • Studies have shown that the induction of hypogonadism in older men is followed by a significant increase in IL-6 concentrations (Khosla et al. 2002), a potent stimulator of inflammation, and that activation of the androgen receptor exerts a direct anti-inflammatory effect
  • It has been suggested that the mechanisms for the immunosuppressive effect of androgens could be either a direct effect on the expression of inflammatory genes (Bellido et al. 1995; Asirvatham et al. 2006), or an indirect effect through inhibition of nuclear factor-kB activation
  • Estradiol is the major biologically active estrogen, and about 80% is formed in adult men from the aromatization of testosterone primarily in the adipose tissue
  • estrogen can stimulate the transcription factor C/EBP-β, which is involved in CRP transcription
  • Most prior cross-sectional studies have observed inverse associations between androgen concentrations and inflammatory biomarkers
  • A recent study in Chinese men showed that lower concentrations of total and calculated free testosterone were associated with higher CRP concentration
  • Data from the Boston Area Community Health Survey also reported inverse associations between testosterone and CRP concentrations
  • Total testosterone was inversely associated with WBC count (Tang et al. 2007; Schneider et al. 2009; Brand et al. 2012), but calculated free testosterone was not associated with WBC
  • The first trial found a decrease in CRP, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) but no changes in IL-6 and IL-10 concentrations between the active treatment and placebo arms
  • the majority of studies in the literature have not observed statistically significant associations between estradiol and inflammatory biomarkers in men, although several of them observed point estimates in the positive direction
  • total testosterone and estradiol compete for binding to SHBG, and seem to have opposite effects on the concentration of inflammatory biomarkers
  • A small randomized controlled trial of estrogen replacement therapy in prostate cancer patients showed an increase in CRP in the active treatment group versus the comparator group
  • Obese men are known to have lower androgen concentrations compared to their normal-weight counterparts
  • The strongest suggestion of an interaction was the inverse association between androstanediol glucuronide and CRP concentrations in obese participants, while the association was positive in the non-obese
  • A recent Chinese cross-sectional study observed stronger inverse associations between total testosterone and CRP concentrations in individuals with a BMI of 27.5 kg/m2 or greater
  • our results suggest that total and calculated free testosterone are modestly inversely associated with CRP concentrations, and that total and calculated free estradiol are modestly positively associated with CRP and WBC
  • Nathan Goodyear on 28 Apr 15
     
    Study results suggest that higher Testosterone and lower Estrogen levels provide anti-inflammatory effects in men.  The inflammatory biomarker assessed here was CRP.  Low total and calculated free Testosterone was associated with an increase in CRP.  In contrast, total and free Estrogen was associated with an increase in CRP.  Estradiol increased WBC count and SHBG was inversely related to WBC count in this study.
Nathan Goodyear

PLOS ONE: Probiotic Microbes Sustain Youthful Serum Testosterone Levels and Testicular ... - 0 views

journals.plos.org/...article

hormone hormones low T low Testosterone hypogonadism Testosterone probiotic L reuters probiotics Lactobacillus lactobacillus reuteri male aging

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 29 Apr 15 - No Cached
  • Studies in both humans and rodents, however, suggest that low testosterone is due to age-related lesions in testes rather than irregular luteinizing hormone metabolism
  • Various dietary factors and diet-induced obesity have been shown to increase the risk for late onset male hypogonadism and low testosterone production in both humans and mice
  • Testosterone deficiency and metabolic diseases such as obesity appear to inter-digitate in complex cause-and-effect relationships
  • ...28 more annotations...
  • dietary supplementation of aged mice with the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri makes them appear to be younger than their matched untreated sibling mice
  • These results indicate that gut microbiota induce modulation of local gastrointestinal immunity resulting in systemic effects on the immune system which activate metabolic pathways that restore tissue homeostasis and overall health
  • all these studies we consistently observed that young and aged mice consuming purified L. reuteri organisms had particularly large testes and a dominant male behavior.
  • The testes of probiotic-fed aged mice were rescued from both seminiferous tubule atrophy and interstitial Leydig cell area reduction typical of the normal aging process. Preservation of testicular architecture despite advanced age or high-fat diet coincided with remarkably high levels of circulating testosterone. The beneficial effects of probiotic consumption were recapitulated by the depletion of the pro-inflammatory cytokine Il-17.
  • feeding of L. reuteri consistently increased the gonadal weights, consumption of a non-pathogenic strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli) K12 organisms did not affect testicular weight
  • mice with dietary L. reuteri supplements were rescued from diet-induced obesity and had normal body weight and lean physique
  • Despite the comparable numbers of ST profiles, we determined that testes from L. reuteri-treated mice had increased ST cross-sectioned profiles
  • the probiotic organism induced prominent Leydig cell accumulations in the interstitial tissue between the ST's
  • The probiotic-associated increase of interstitial Leydig cell areas was sustained with advancing age at 7 (CD vs CD+LR, P = 0.0025; CD+E.coli vs CD+LR, P = 0.0251) and 12 months
  • mice eating L. reuteri had profoundly increased levels of circulating testosterone regardless of the type of diet they consumed
  • blocking pro-inflammatory Il-17 signaling entirely recapitulates the beneficial effects of probiotics
  • previous studies we found that dietary probiotics counteract obesity [19] and age-related integumentary pathology [18] at least in part by down-regulating systemic pro-inflammatory IL-17A-dependent signaling
  • Testes histomorphometry and serum androgen concentration data were both suggestive of a probiotic-associated up-regulation of spermatogenesis in mice
  • Lactobacillus reuteri we discovered that aging male animals had larger testes compared to their age-matched controls
  • xamined testes of probiotic microbe-fed mice and found that they had less testicular atrophy coinciding with higher levels of circulating testosterone compared to their age-matched controls
  • Similar testicular health benefits were produced using systemic depletion of the pro-inflammatory cytokine Il-17 alone, implicating a chronic inflammatory pathway in hypogonadism
  • One specific aspect of this paradigm is reciprocal activities of pro-inflammatory Th-17 and anti-inflammatory Treg cells
  • Feeding of L. reuteri organisms was previously shown to up-regulate IL-10 levels and reduce levels of IL-17 [19] serving to lower systemic inflammation
  • insufficient levels of IL-10 may increase the risk for autoimmunity, obesity, and other inflammatory disease syndromes
  • Westernized diets are also low in vitamin D, a nutrient that when present normally works together with IL-10 to protect against inflammatory disorders
  • Physiological feedback loops apparently exist between microbes, host hormones, and immunity
  • The hormone testosterone has been shown to act directly through androgen receptors on CD4+ cells to increase IL-10 expression
  • studies in both humans and rodents suggest that hypogonadism is due to age-related lesions in testes rather than irregular LH metabolism
  • We postulate that probiotic gut microbes function symbiotically with their mammalian hosts to impart immune homeostasis to maintain systemic and testicular health [34]–[35] despite suboptimal dietary conditions.
  • Dietary factors and diet-induced obesity were previously shown to increase risk for age-associated male hypogonadism, reduced spermatogenesis, and low testosterone production in both humans and mice [2]–[4], [8]–[11], [14]–[17], phenotypic features that in this study were inhibited by oral probiotic therapy absent milk sugars, extra protein, or vitamin D supplied in yogurt.
  • Similar beneficial effects of probiotic microbes on testosterone levels and sperm indices were reported in male mice that had been simultaneously supplemented with selenium
  • L. reuteri-associated prevention of age- and diet-related testicular atrophy correlates with increased numbers and size of Leydig cells
  • the initial changes of testicular atrophy begin to occur in mice from the age of 6 moths onwards [7] and indicates that the trophic effect of L. reuteri on Leydig cells is a key event which precedes and prevents age-related changes in the testes of mice. This effect is reminiscent of earlier studies describing Leydig cell hyperplasia and/or hypertrophy in the mouse and the rat testis that were achievable by the administration of gonadotropins, including human chorionic gonadotropin, FSH and LH
  • Nathan Goodyear on 29 Apr 15
     
    Fascinating study on how the addition of Lactobacillus reuteri increased Testicular size, prevented testicular atrophy, increased serum Testosterone production and protected against diet-induced/obesity-induced hypogonadism.  This was a mouse model
Nathan Goodyear

Metabolic effects of testosterone replacement therapy on hypogonadal men with type 2 di... - 0 views

www.ajandrology.com/article.asp

Testosterone therapy diabetes lipids glucose triglycerides men male hormone hormones

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 17 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • up to 40% of men with T2DM have testosterone deficiency
  • Among diabetic patients, a reduction in sex hormone binding globulin levels induced by insulin resistance leads to a further decline of testosterone levels
  • low bioavailable testosterone concentration was related to decreased lean body mass and muscle strength
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • Testosterone deficiency has a high prevalence in men with T2DM, and it is also associated with impaired insulin sensitivity, increased percentage body fat, central obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases (CVD)
  • A meta-analysis of four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) showed that TRT seemed to improve glycemic control as well as fat mass in T2DM subjects with low testosterone levels and sexual dysfunction.
  • testosterone administration could increase muscle mass and strength
  • Insulin stimulates glucose uptake into muscle and adipose tissue via the Glut4 glucose transporter isoform. When insulin activates signaling via the insulin receptor, Glut4 interacts with insulin receptor substrate 1 to initialize intracellular signaling and facilitate glucose transportation into the cell
  • The benefits of TRT on glucose metabolism can mainly be explained by its influence on the insulin signaling pathway
  • Insulin resistance as assessed by, which is calculated from the equation (If*Gf/22.5, where If is fasting insulin and Gf is fasting glucose), was definitely improved by TRT after testosterone administration in three studies
  • Testosterone was observed to elevate the expression levels and stimulate translocation of Glut4 in cultured skeletal muscle cells and to upregulate Glut4 by activating insulin receptor signaling pathways in neonatal rats
  • These effects were inhibited by a dihydrotestosterone (DHT) blocker, indicating that glucose uptake may correlate with conversion of testosterone to DHT and activation of the androgen receptor.
  • TRT reduced triglyceride levels
  • TRT has been reported to have a positive effect in the decrease of total and LDL cholesterol levels and triglycerides in hypogonadal men
  • a recent meta-analysis showed that statins could significantly lower testosterone concentrations.
  • Epidemiological studies have found a negative relationship between testosterone levels and typical cardiovascular risk markers, such as body mass index, waist circumference, visceral adiposity and carotid intima-media thickness.
  • Testosterone treatment was shown to raise hemoglobin, hematocrit and thromboxane, all of which might give rise to CVD
  • Nathan Goodyear on 17 Jan 14
     
    Low Testosterone is a very significant problem in men with type II Diabetes.  Estimated to reach 40%, likely much higher.  They based these estimates only on T levels and sexual symptoms. Testosterone improves glycemic control primarily through Increased transcription and transloction of GLUT4 insulin receptors to the cell surface.  Inflammation reduction is also a mechanism.  Testosteorne lowers Triglycerides in the traditional lipid profile.  Studies are mixed on the other aspects of  lipids.  
Nathan Goodyear

Lowered testosterone in male obesity: Mechanisms, morbidity and management Tang Fui MN,... - 0 views

www.ajandrology.com/article.asp

Testosterone male obesity overweight men hormone hormones low T Low T

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 15 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • The number of overweight people is expected to increase from 937 million in 2005 to 1.35 billion in 2030
  • Similarly the number of obese people is projected to increase from 396 million in 2005 to 573 million in 2030
  • By 2030, China alone is predicted to have more overweight men and women than the traditional market economies combined
  • ...37 more annotations...
  • diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2 (DGAT2), mechanistically implicated in this differential storage, [10] is regulated by dihydrotestosterone, [11] suggesting a potential role for androgens to influence the genetic predisposition to either the MHO or MONW phenotype.
  • bariatric surgery achieves 10%-30% long-term weight loss in controlled studies
  • The fact that obese men have lower testosterone compared to lean men has been recognized for more than 30 years
  • Reductions in testosterone levels correlate with the severity of obesity and men
  • epidemiological data suggest that the single most powerful predictor of low testosterone is obesity, and that obesity is a major contributor of the age-associated decline in testosterone levels.
  • healthy ageing by itself is uncommonly associated with marked reductions in testosterone levels
  • obesity blunts this LH rise, obesity leads to hypothalamic-pituitary suppression irrespective of age which cannot be compensated for by physiological mechanisms
  • Reductions in total testosterone levels are largely a consequence of reductions in sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) due to obesity-associated hyperinsulinemia
  • although controversial, measurement of free testosterone levels may provide a more accurate assessment of androgen status than the (usually preferred) measurement of total testosterone in situations where SHBG levels are outside the reference range
  • SHBG increases with age
  • marked obesity however is associated with an unequivocal reduction of free testosterone levels, where LH and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels are usually low or inappropriately normal, suggesting that the dominant suppression occurs at the hypothalamic-pituitary level
  • adipose tissue, especially when in the inflamed, insulin-resistant state, expresses aromatase which converts testosterone to estradiol (E 2 ). Adipose E 2 in turn may feedback negatively to decrease pituitary gonadotropin secretion
  • diabetic obesity is associated with decreases in circulatory E 2
  • In addition to E 2 , increased visceral fat also releases increased amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines, insulin and leptin; all of which may inhibit the activity of the HPT axis at multiple levels
  • In the prospective Massachusetts Male Aging Study (MMAS), moving from a non-obese to an obese state resulted in a decline of testosterone levels
  • weight loss, whether by diet or surgery, increases testosterone levels proportional to the amount of weight lost
  • fat is androgen-responsive
  • low testosterone may augment the effects of a hypercaloric diet
  • In human male ex vivo adipose tissue, testosterone decreased adipocyte differentiation by 50%.
  • Testosterone enhances catecholamine-induced lipolysis in vitro and reduces lipoprotein lipase activity and triglyceride uptake in human abdominal adipose tissue in vivo
  • in men with prostate cancer receiving 12 months of androgen deprivation therapy, fat mass increased by 3.4 kg and abdominal VAT by 22%, with the majority of these changes established within 6 months
  • severe sex steroid deficiency can increase fat mass rapidly
  • bidirectional relationship between testosterone and obesity
  • increasing body fat suppresses the HPT axis by multiple mechanisms [30] via increased secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, insulin resistance and diabetes; [19],[44] while on the other hand low testosterone promotes further accumulation of total and visceral fat mass, thereby exacerbating the gonadotropin inhibition
  • androgens may play a more significant role in VAT than SAT
  • men undergoing androgen depletion for prostate cancer show more marked increases in visceral compared to subcutaneous fat following treatment
    • Nathan Goodyear
      Nathan Goodyear on 16 Jan 14
       
      Interesting: low T increases VAT, yet T therapy does not reduce VAT, yet T therapy reduces SAT.
  • irisin, derived from muscle, induces brown fat-like properties in rodent white fat
  • androgens can act via the PPARg-pathway [37] which is implicated in the differentiation of precursor fat cells to the energy-consuming phenotype
  • low testosterone may compound the effect of increasing fat mass by making it more difficult for obese men to lose weight via exercise
  • pro-inflammatory cytokines released by adipose tissue may contribute to loss of muscle mass and function, leading to inactivity and further weight gain in a vicious cycle
  • Sarcopenic obesity, a phenotype recapitulated in men receiving ADT for prostate cancer, [55] may not only be associated with functional limitations, but also aggravate the metabolic risks of obesity;
  • observational evidence associating higher endogenous testosterone with reduced loss of muscle mass and crude measures of muscle function in men losing weight
  • genuine reactivation of the HPT axis in obese men requires more substantial weight-loss
  • A number of intervention studies have confirmed that both diet- and surgically-induced weight losses are associated with increased testosterone, with the rise in testosterone generally proportional to the amount of weight lost
  • men, regardless of obesity level, can benefit from the effect of weight loss.
  • inconsistent effect of testosterone on VAT
  • Nathan Goodyear on 15 Jan 14
     
    to be read
Nathan Goodyear

Anticancer mechanisms of cannabinoids - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...PMC4791144

THC cannabinoids cancer

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 18 Sep 18 - No Cached
  • modulating key cell signalling pathways involved in the control of cancer cell proliferation and survival
  • cannabinoids inhibit angiogenesis and decrease metastasis in various tumour types in laboratory animals
  • Cannabis sativa L. (marijuana)
  • ...41 more annotations...
  • of the approximately 108 cannabinoids produced by C. sativa, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (thc) is the most relevant because of its high potency and abundance in plant preparations
  • Tetrahydrocannabinol exerts a wide variety of biologic effects by mimicking endogenous substances—the endocannabinoids anandamide3 and 2-arachidonoylglycerol4,5—that engage specific cell-surface cannabinoid receptors
  • the cb2 receptor was initially described to be present in the immune system6, but was more recently shown to also be expressed in cells from other origins
  • transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V, member 1
  • orphan G protein–coupled receptor 55
  • Most of the effects produced by cannabinoids in the nervous system and in non-neural tissues rely on cb1 receptor activation
  • two major cannabinoid-specific receptors—cb1 and cb2
  • cardiovascular tone, energy metabolism, immunity, and reproduction
  • cannabinoids are well known to exert palliative effects in cancer patients
  • best-established use is the inhibition of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting
  • thc and other cannabinoids exhibit antitumour effects in a wide array of animal models of cancer
  • cannabinoid receptors and their endogenous ligands are both generally upregulated in tumour tissue compared with non-tumour tissue
  • cb2 promotes her2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) pro-oncogenic signalling in breast cancer
  • pharmacologic activation of cannabinoid receptors decreases tumour growth
  • endocannabinoid signalling can also have a tumour-suppressive role
  • pharmacologic stimulation of cb receptors is, in most cases, antitumourigenic. Nonetheless, a few reports have proposed a tumour-promoting effect of cannabinoids
  • most prevalent effect is the induction of cancer cell death by apoptosis and the inhibition of cancer cell proliferation
  • impair tumour angiogenesis and block invasion and metastasis
  • thc and other cannabinoids induce the apoptotic death of glioma cells by cb1- and cb2-dependent stimulation
  • Autophagy is primarily a cytoprotective mechanism, although its activation can also lead to cell death
  • autophagy is important for cannabinoid antineoplastic activity
  • autophagy is upstream of apoptosis in the mechanism of cannabinoid-induced cell death
  • the effect of cannabinoids in hormone- dependent tumours might rely, at least in part, on the ability to interfere with the activation of growth factor receptors
  • glioma cells), pharmacologic blockade of either cb1 or cb2 prevents cannabinoid-induced cell death with similar efficacy
  • other types of cancer cells (pancreatic48, breast24, or hepatic43 carcinoma cells, for example), antagonists of cb2 but not of cb1 inhibit cannabinoid antitumour actions
  • thc promotes cancer cell death in a cb1- or cb2-dependent manner (or both) at lower concentrations
  • cannabidiol (cbd), a phytocannabinoid with a low affinity for cannabinoid receptors15, and other marijuana-derived cannabinoids57 have also been proposed to promote the apoptotic death of cancer cells acting independently of the cb1 and cb2 receptors
  • In cancer cells, cannabinoids block the activation of the vascular endothelial growth factor (vegf) pathway, an inducer of angiogenesi
  • In vascular endothelial cells, cannabinoid receptor activation inhibits proliferation and migration, and induces apoptosis
  • cb1 or cb2 receptor agonists (or both) reduce the formation of distant tumour masses in animal models of both induced and spontaneous metastasis, and inhibit adhesion, migration, and invasiveness of glioma64, breast65,66, lung67,68, and cervical68 cancer cells in culture
  • the ceramide/p8–regulated pathway plays a general role in the antitumour activity of cannabinoids targeting cb1 and cb2
  • cbd, by acting independently of the cb1 and cb2 receptors, produces a remarkable anti-tumour effect—including reduction of invasiveness and metastasis
  • cannabinoids can also enhance immune system–mediated tumour surveillance in some contexts
  • ability of thc to reduce inflammation75,76, an effect that might prevent certain types of cancer
  • recent observations suggest that the combined administration of cannabinoids with other anticancer drugs acts synergistically to reduce tumour growth
  • combined administration of gemcitabine (the benchmark agent for the treatment of pancreatic cancer) and various cannabinoid agonists synergistically reduced the viability of pancreatic cancer cells
  • Other reports indicated that anandamide and HU-210 might also enhance the anticancer activity of paclitaxel89 and 5-fluorouracil90 respectively
  • Combined administration of thc and cbd enhances the anticancer activity of thc and reduces the dose of thc needed to induce its tumour growth-inhibiting activity
  • Preclinical animal models have yielded data indicating that systemic (oral or intraperitoneal) administration of cannabinoids effectively decreases tumour growth
  • Combinations of cannabinoids with classical chemotherapeutic drugs such as the alkylating agent temozolomide (the benchmark agent for the management of glioblastoma80,84) have been shown to produce a strong anticancer action in animal models
  • pharmacologic inhibition of egfr, erk83, or akt enhances the cell-death-promoting action of thc in glioma cultures (unpublished observations by the authors), which suggests that targeting egfr and the akt and erk pathways could enhance the antitumour effect of cannabinoids
  • Nathan Goodyear on 18 Sep 18
     
    Good review of the anticancer effects of cananbinoids.
Nathan Goodyear

Sex hormones and cognitive decline ... [Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009] - PubMed - NCBI - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...18845400

men estrogen estradiol estrone dementia cognitive decline low T low testosterone hormones hormone

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 30 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Nathan Goodyear on 30 Apr 13
     
    increased estradiol and estrone levels in men associated with cognitive decline.  This was distinct from age, CVD, and APOE genotype.  This points to a clear association between increased aromatase activity and inflammation that contributes to cognitive decline in men.
Nathan Goodyear

Male gonadal function in coeliac disease: 2. Sex hormones. - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...PMC1420172

Testosterone men male hormone hormones celiac disease celiac gluten Estrogen free androgen index DHT

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 27 Jul 14 - No Cached
  • Nathan Goodyear on 27 Jul 14
     
    Interesting study of men with Celiac's disease.  Men with untreated Celiac's were found to have elevated TT and free Androgen index, but DHT was reduced with a slight increase in Estrogen.  LH was elevated.  This is consistent with inflammation increased aromatase activity.
Nathan Goodyear

Beyond the male sex hormone: deciphering the metabolic and vascular actions of testoste... - 0 views

joe.endocrinology-journals.org/...C1.full

AR androgen receptors androgen receptor testosterone androgen receptors Diabetes metabolic syndrome MetS CVD cardiovascular disease men hormone hormones male

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 08 May 13 - No Cached
  • androgen deprivation therapy results in unfavorable changes in body composition, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia and predisposes men to develop atherosclerosis and an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality
  • The hypogonadal–obesity cycle hypothesis was originally proposed by Cohen in 1999 to explain the relationship between low testosterone levels and metabolic disease. It was based on the finding that obesity impairs testosterone levels by increasing the aromatization of testosterone to estradiol, while low testosterone levels promote increased fat deposition
  • adipocytokines contribute to low testosterone levels as well as to the processes underlying metabolic syndromes and type 2 diabetes
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • hypogonadal–obesity–adipocytokine hypothesis
  • The presence of estradiol and the adipocytokines TNF-α, IL6, and leptin (as a result of leptin resistance in obesity) inhibits the hypothalamic–pituitary–testicular axis response to decreasing androgen levels
  • An increasing number of studies have illustrated the potential for applying metabolomics to the field of androgen research
  • As early as the 1940s, the therapeutic use of testosterone was reported to improve angina pectoris in men with coronary artery disease
  • most of the epidemiological studies reported increased cardiovascular risk and mortality in men with low testosterone levels
  • long-term testosterone replacement appears to be a safe and effective means of treating hypogonadal elderly men
  • a recent interventional trial showed that testosterone treatment was associated with decreased mortality when compared with no testosterone treatment in an observational cohort of men with low testosterone levels
  • a number of short-term studies conducted support the notion that testosterone therapy reduces the cardiovascular risk
  • The majority of animal studies support the hypothesis that the actions of testosterone on vascular relaxation are both endothelium-dependent and -independent vasodilatory effects
  • Endothelial-dependent actions of testosterone increase the expression or activity of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and enhance nitric oxide production, which in turn activates cyclic guanosine monophosphate to induce vasorelaxation in smooth muscle cells
  • Endothelial-independent mechanisms of testosterone are believed to occur primarily via inhibition of voltage-operated Ca2+ channels and/or activation of K+ channels in smooth muscle cells
  • Testosterone may also inhibit intracellular Ca2+ influx via store-operated Ca2+ channels by blocking the response to prostaglandin F2α
  • testosterone has demonstrated anti-inflammatory effects to protect against atherogenesis in animal studies
  • both genomic AR activation to modulate gene transcription and non-genomic activation to modulate the rapid intracellular signaling pathways of ion channels may mediate testosterone effects on vascular function and inflammation.
  • Butenandt &amp; Ruzicka first showed how testosterone is synthesized and responsible for masculine characteristics in the early 1930s
  • Nathan Goodyear on 08 May 13
     
    Awesome review on the current understanding of Testosterone and Diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and CVD.  This article even goes into the literature on androgen receptors.
Nathan Goodyear

Reduced Activation and Increased Inactivation of Thyroid Hormone in Tissues of Critical... - 0 views

jcem.endojournals.org/...3202.full

TSH hypothyroid hypothyroidism T3 rT3 T4 thyroid hormone inflammation

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 07 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Nathan Goodyear on 07 Feb 12
     
    critical illness is associated with low TSH, reduced T3, and increased rT3 production.  Inflammation is critically involved in this process.  This study from JCEM shows how unreliable TSH and T4 are.
Nathan Goodyear

Serum oestradiol levels in male partners of infer... [Andrologia. 2014] - PubMed - NCBI - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...25059733

Estradiol Testosterone men male infertility BMI hormone hormones

shared by Nathan Goodyear on 29 Jul 14 - No Cached
  • Nathan Goodyear on 29 Jul 14
     
    Study points to association of low Estradiol and spermatogenesis in males in infertile couples.  The authors eluded to the association of low Estradiol with low Testosterone, and BMI which is the likely etiology.  Low BMI will result in low aromatase activity.  For men, the majority of Estradiol production occurs from Testosterone via aromatase activity.  Estradiol likely exists in a "U" shaped pattern of benefit: to low hinders optimal physiologic function and contributes to inflammation and disease in men.
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