Opioid-Induced Androgen Deficiency (OPIAD): Diagnosis, Management, and Literature Review

Serum testosterone concentrations decrease as men age, but benefits of raising testosterone levels in older men have not been established.

Background An association between testosterone therapy (TT) and cardiovascular disease has been reported and TT use is increasing rapidly. Methods We conducted a cohort study of the risk of acute non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) following an initial TT prescription (N = 55,593) in a large health-care database. We compared the incidence rate of MI in the 90 days following the initial prescription (post-prescription interval) with the rate in the one year prior to the initial prescription (pre-prescription interval) (post/pre). We also compared post/pre rates in a cohort of men prescribed phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5I; sildenafil or tadalafil, N = 167,279), and compared TT prescription post/pre rates with the PDE5I post/pre rates, adjusting for potential confounders using doubly robust estimation. Results In all subjects, the post/pre-prescription rate ratio (RR) for TT prescription was 1.36 (1.03, 1.81). In men aged 65 years and older, the RR was 2.19 (1.27, 3.77) for TT prescription and 1.15 (0.83, 1.59) for PDE5I, and the ratio of the rate ratios (RRR) for TT prescription relative to PDE5I was 1.90 (1.04, 3.49). The RR for TT prescription increased with age from 0.95 (0.54, 1.67) for men under age 55 years to 3.43 (1.54, 7.56) for those aged ≥75 years (ptrend = 0.03), while no trend was seen for PDE5I (ptrend = 0.18). In men under age 65 years, excess risk was confined to those with a prior history of heart disease, with RRs of 2.90 (1.49, 5.62) for TT prescription and 1.40 (0.91, 2.14) for PDE5I, and a RRR of 2.07 (1.05, 4.11). Discussion In older men, and in younger men with pre-existing diagnosed heart disease, the risk of MI following initiation of TT prescription is substantially increased.

Loss of estrogens or androgens increases the rate of bone remodeling by removing restraining effects on osteoblastogenesis and osteoclastogenesis, and also causes a focal imbalance between resorption and formation by prolonging the lifespan of osteoclasts and shortening the lifespan of osteoblasts. Conversely, androgens, as well as estrogens, maintain cancellous bone mass and integrity, regardless of age or sex. Although androgens, via the androgen receptor (AR), and estrogens, via the estrogen receptors (ERs), can exert these effects, their relative contribution remains uncertain. Recent studies suggest that androgen action on cancellous bone depends on (local) aromatization of androgens into estrogens. However, at least in rodents, androgen action on cancellous bone can be directly mediated via AR activation, even in the absence of ERs. Androgens also increase cortical bone size via stimulation of both longitudinal and radial growth. First, androgens, like estrogens, have a biphasic effect on endochondral bone formation: at the start of puberty, sex steroids stimulate endochondral bone formation, whereas they induce epiphyseal closure at the end of puberty. Androgen action on the growth plate is, however, clearly mediated via aromatization in estrogens and interaction with ERalpha. Androgens increase radial growth, whereas estrogens decrease periosteal bone formation. This effect of androgens may be important because bone strength in males seems to be determined by relatively higher periosteal bone formation and, therefore, greater bone dimensions, relative to muscle mass at older age. Experiments in mice again suggest that both the AR and ERalpha pathways are involved in androgen action on radial bone growth. ERbeta may mediate growth-limiting effects of estrogens in the female but does not seem to be involved in the regulation of bone size in males. In conclusion, androgens may protect men against osteoporosis via maintenance of cancellous bone mass and expansion of cortical bone. Such androgen action on bone is mediated by the AR and ERalpha.