Features of adipose tissue function against the background of androgen deficiency in men with type 2 diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND: Androgen deficiency associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the components of the metabolic syndrome, which is followed by visceral obesity. The pathogenetic features of the functioning of adipose tissue in patients with a combination of pathologies such as T2DM and hypogonadism have been studied extremely little.

AIMS: To measure the effect of testosterone (T) deficiency on metabolic parameters and secretory activity of adipose tissue in men suffering from T2DM.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with T2DM and hypogonadism were subjected to a series of general clinical studies, studied the degree of disturbance of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, as well as the lipid accumulation index LAP, and also the level of hormones produced by adipose tissue (resistin, adiponectin and leptin) and sex hormones.

RESULTS: The study involved 276 male patients with T2DM (aged 54.0 (8.0) years), divided into 2 groups: group 1 consisted of patients with hypogonadism (n=124); 2nd — eugonadal patients (n=152).

Along with insulin resistance, men suffering from T2DM in combination with hypogonadism have hyperinsulinemia and dyslipidemia, more significant disturbances in the secretory activity of adipose tissue: an increase in leptin concentration by 18.4% (p=0.03), resistin by 2 times (p < 0.001), and a 1.7-fold decrease in the level adiponectin (p=0.006). This pattern clearly demonstrates the fundamental importance T deficiency in men with T2DM in the formation of metabolic disorders, as well as dysfunction of adipose tissue.

CONCLUSIONS: Decreased T production in patients with T2DM worsens the disturbance of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, and also the dysfunction of adipose tissue, the main pathophysiologic basis for cardiometabolic diseases.

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