Martin Donel M, Wittert Gary, Burns Nicholas R, Haren Matthew T, Sugarman Roy
School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Maturitas. 2007 Jun 20;57(2):182-94. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2006.12.007. Epub 2007 Feb 6.
Recent evidence suggests that declining testosterone levels in ageing males may be associated with both normal and pathological cognitive ageing. The aim of the present analyses was to investigate whether endogenous gonadal steroid levels in males mediate or moderate the associations between age and performance on neuropsychological measures of verbal memory, executive function, and processing speed.
A cross-sectional analysis of the baseline data from 1046 community-dwelling men aged 35-80 years participating in the Florey Adelaide Male Ageing Study (FAMAS). Multiply adjusted analyses included participants' history of medical conditions, anthropometric measurements, medication use, smoking status, alcohol use and mood. Hormone measurements included total testosterone (TT), bioavailable testosterone (BT), calculated free testosterone (cEFT), oestradiol (E2), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and lutenising hormone (LH). Neuropsychological tests included the Fuld Object Memory Evaluation (FOME), Trails A and Trails B.
In multiply adjusted analyses, higher cEFT and TT levels were associated with both poorer verbal memory and executive function performance and faster processing speed. cEFT levels were found to moderate the relationship between age and verbal memory performance quadratically and to mediate the relationship between age and processing speed.
The results from this study suggest that higher levels of endogenous testosterone, particularly in the elderly, may have deleterious effects on cognitive functioning in men.
近期证据表明，老年男性睾酮水平下降可能与正常及病理性认知老化均相关。本分析的目的是研究男性内源性性腺类固醇水平是否介导或调节年龄与言语记忆、执行功能及处理速度的神经心理学测量表现之间的关联。
对参与弗洛里阿德莱德男性衰老研究（FAMAS）的1046名年龄在35 - 80岁的社区居住男性的基线数据进行横断面分析。多重调整分析纳入了参与者的病史、人体测量数据、用药情况、吸烟状况、饮酒情况及情绪。激素测量包括总睾酮（TT）、生物可利用睾酮（BT）、计算游离睾酮（cEFT）、雌二醇（E2）、性激素结合球蛋白（SHBG）、促卵泡激素（FSH）和促黄体生成素（LH）。神经心理学测试包括福尔兹物体记忆评估（FOME）、连线测验A和连线测验B。
在多重调整分析中，较高的cEFT和TT水平与较差的言语记忆和执行功能表现以及较快的处理速度相关。发现cEFT水平以二次方形式调节年龄与言语记忆表现之间的关系，并介导年龄与处理速度之间的关系。
本研究结果表明，较高水平的内源性睾酮，尤其是在老年人中，可能对男性的认知功能产生有害影响。
