Young adult males who cannot produce or respond to estrogen (E) are osteopenic, suggesting that E may regulate bone turnover in men, as well as in women. Both bioavailable E and testosterone (T) decrease substantially in aging men, but it is unclear which deficiency is the more important factor contributing to the increased bone resorption and impaired bone formation that leads to their bone loss. Thus, we addressed this issue directly by eliminating endogenous T and E production in 59 elderly men (mean age 68 years), studying them first under conditions of physiologic T and E replacement and then assessing the impact on bone turnover of withdrawing both T and E, withdrawing only T, or only E, or continuing both. Bone resorption markers increased significantly in the absence of both hormones and were unchanged in men receiving both hormones. By two-factor ANOVA, E played the major role in preventing the increase in the bone resorption markers, whereas T had no significant effect. By contrast, serum osteocalcin, a bone formation marker, decreased in the absence of both hormones, and both E and T maintained osteocalcin levels. We conclude that in aging men, E is the dominant sex steroid regulating bone resorption, whereas both E and T are important in maintaining bone formation.
Alireza Falahati-Nini, B. Lawrence Riggs, Elizabeth J. Atkinson, W. Michael O’Fallon, Richard Eastell, Sundeep Khosla
Title and authors | Publication | Year |
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Journal of Orthopaedic Science | 2007 |
Regulation of Bone Turnover by Sex Steroids in Men
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Journal of Bone and Mineral Research | 2007 |
Expanding the therapeutic use of androgens via selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs)
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Drug Discovery Today | 2007 |
Androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer: new concepts and concerns
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Current opinion in endocrinology, diabetes, and obesity | 2007 |
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International Journal of Andrology | 2007 |
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CYP19A1 polymorphisms are associated with bone mineral density in Chinese men
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Human Genetics | 2007 |
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P Szulc, JM Kaufman, PD Delmas |
Osteoporosis International | 2007 |
The effect of combined androgen blockade on bone turnover and bone mineral density in men with prostate cancer
Y Yamada, S Takahashi, T Fujimura, H Nishimatsu, A Ishikawa, H Kume, K Tomita, T Takeuchi, T Kitamura |
Osteoporosis International | 2007 |
Decreased peak bone mass is associated with a 3-bp deletion/insertion of the CYP19 intron 4 polymorphism: Preliminary data from the GOOS study
D Kastelan, Z Grubic, I Kraljevic, K Duric, I Kardum, T Dusek, K Stingl, Z Giljevic, V Kerhin-Brkljacic, E Suchanek, M Korsic |
Journal of Endocrinological Investigation | 2007 |
Estrogen metabolism modulates bone density in men.
Napoli N, Faccio R, Shrestha V, Bucchieri S, Rini GB, Armamento-Villareal R |
Calcified Tissue International | 2007 |