The Impact of Visceral Adiposity on Testosterone Levels in American Adult Men: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Abstract

Background Testosterone decline and deficiency importantly affect men’s health, and may be associated with excessive deposition of visceral adipose tissue. This study was conducted to explore the association between visceral adiposity index (VAI) and testosterone level. Material/Methods A total of 1551 participants from the NHANES 2013–2013 cycle and 2015–2016 cycle were selected for our analyses. The VAI index was calculated based on waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), triglyceride (TG), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), and serum testosterone was measured by isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Multivariable adjusted linear and logistic regression were utilized to investigate the associations between VAI index and testosterone level and testosterone deficiency, respectively. Additionally, subgroup analyses were performed to identify sensitive populations. Results A total of 1551 participants with mean VAI index of 1.95±0.08 were eligible for our analysis. After adjusting for all potential cofounders, men with higher VAI index displayed a lower level of total testosterone level (β: −11.74, 95% CI: −17.33, −6.15, P<0.0001), and higher risk of testosterone deficiency (OR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.40, P=0.0022). Comparing to VAI quartile 1, quartile 4 showed the most decreased testosterone level (β: −94.59, 95% CI: −130.04, −59.14, P<0.0001), and highest risk of testosterone deficiency (OR: 5.07, 95% CI: 2.41,10.63, P<0.0001). Subgroup analysis demonstrated that VAI index was strongly related to testosterone level and testosterone deficiency in aged and obese men. Conclusions Men with higher VAI index displayed lower testosterone levels and higher risk of testosterone deficiency, especially in aged men and obese men.

Combined obesity- and lipid-related indices are associated with hypogonadism in Chinese male patients with type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study

“…In addition, we found that these patients had higher insulin and C-peptide levels, which corresponded to the more severe insulin resistance described above, as confirmed by the difference in HOMA-IR between the two groups (p< 0.001), suggesting to us that hypogonadism may be more related to diabetes control. In addition, there were differences in weight, WC, hip circumference, and BMI between the two groups (all P< 0.001), all of which have been found and repeatedly elucidated in previous studies to be associated with lower TT in males with T2DM ( 26 , 37 – 39 , 41 ), and there was a significant difference in BMI between the two groups in the present study, which fell in the obese and overweight ranges, respectively, and thus we considered BMI in the subsequent analyses.…”

Association between weight-adjusted waist index and serum total testosterone in males aged 6–19 years in the United States: Data from NHANES 2013–2016

“…However, many covariates are still unknown or difficult to obtain from existing research data. To estimate the independent effect between WWI and sTT, we adjusted for potential confounders by including them as covariates in the model, as suggested by previous studies [ [26] , [27] , [28] ]. Age, gender, race (black, white, and other), educational level (<6th grade, 6–9th grade, and >9th grade), and ratio of family income to poverty (PIR) were derived from the Demographic Variables and Sample Weights questionnaire.…”