The prevalence of hyperestrogenism and testosterone deficiency in obese men

• Zukhra Sh. Pavlova
• Ivan I. Golodnikov
• Yana A. Orlova
• Armais A. Kamalov

Abstract

Currently, there is practically no epidemiological data on the incidence of hyperestrogenism, and it is still indirectly estimated by the prevalence of gynecomastia.

The aim of our work was to assess the prevalence of hyperestrogenism, androgenic deficiency and the combination of testosterone deficiency with hyperestrogenism in obese men according to a retrospective analysis, as well as to study the effect of body weight (BMI) and age on estradiol and testosterone levels.

Material and methods. The authors retrospectively reviewed 351 case-records of obese, overweight, and normal weight male patients. The present study included case-records of 301 patients. The information was statistically processed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0 software.

Results. Hyperestrogenism occurred in men ranging from 36.1 to 21.6%, depending on the estradiol threshold of 41.2 or 47 pg/ml, respectively. With an increase in BMI in men, the number of detectable hyperestrogenism increased from 27/16.2% (depending on the threshold values) at normal BMI to 63/45% at grade III obesity. Testosterone deficiency was found in 57.5% of the examined patients, and the testosterone level significantly decreased with an increase in BMI from 13.74 nmol/l in patients with normal BMI to 8.85 nmol/l in patients with grade III obesity. The combination of testosterone deficiency with hyperestrogenism was present in 57 (19.3%) of 296 examined. This combination took place more often in young obese men (aged 18-36 - 24.4%), and decreased with age (over the age of 51 - 13.9%).

Thus, according to our data, hyperestrogenism occurred in every fifth/every third obese man, depending on the accepted threshold. The incidence of this condition increased in direct proportion to the increase in BMI. The combination of hyperestrogenism with testosterone deficiency was found in every fourth young man with obesity.

Keywords:hyperestrogenism, testosterone, testosterone deficiency, estradiol, obesity, overweight

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