Testosterone levels do not affect ED

Atlanta-A cross-sectional analysis of data from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study indicates that there is no relationship between testosterone levels and erectile dysfunction, while elevated levels of luteinizing hormone were associated with a higher prevalence of ED.

"While the prevalence of ED is known to increase with age, and aging is also associated with changes in male endocrine functioning, the precise role of endocrine function in the etiology of ED has not been well established," said Varant Kupelian, PhD, associate research scientist at the New England Research Institutes, Watertown, MA, who presented the results of the study at the AUA annual meeting here.

"The findings of our study are consistent with previous reports that did not find an association between testosterone and sexual function," he added. "The increased risk of ED with higher LH levels may be indicative of a relationship between decreased testicular function and ED independently of testosterone levels, but biological explanations for that observation and for why men with elevated LH levels appear more sensitive to effects of testosterone on sexual function are unclear."

ED was assessed by self-report, where men were asked to classify themselves as having none, minimal, moderate, or complete ED. For the purposes of this analysis, ED was defined as a report of complete or moderate ED.

Hormone measurements were obtained by radioimmunoassay. There was no association between testosterone levels and ED after adjusting for the confounding effect of important risk factors for ED. Higher testosterone levels were associated with a decrease in risk of ED only among a small group of men with elevated LH levels.