Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Cardinal Tien Hospital and School of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Andrology. 2013 Jul;1(4):563-9. doi: 10.1111/j.2047-2927.2013.00086.x. Epub 2013 May 8.
Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are bone marrow-derived cells required for endothelial repair. A low EPC number can be considered as an independent predictor of endothelial dysfunction and future cardiovascular events. Recent evidence shows that patients with hypogonadal symptoms without other confounding risk factors have a low number of circulating progenitor cells (PCs) and EPCs, thus highlighting the role of testosterone in the proliferation and differentiation of EPCs. Here, we investigate if testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) can increase circulating EPC number in men with late onset hypogonadism. Forty-six men (age range, 40-73 years; mean age, 58.3 years) with hypogonadal symptoms were recruited, and 29 men with serum total testosterone (TT) levels less than 350 ng/dL received TRT using transdermal testosterone gel (Androgel; 1% testosterone at 5 g/day) for 12 months. Circulating EPC numbers (per 100 000 monocytes) were calculated using flow cytometry. There was no significant association between serum TT levels and the number of circulating EPCs before TRT. Compared with the number of mean circulating EPCs at baseline (9.5 ± 6.2), the number was significantly higher after 3 months (16.6 ± 11.1, p = 0.027), 6 months (20.3 ± 15.3, p = 0.006) and 12 months (27.2 ± 15.5, p = 0.017) of TRT. Thus, we conclude that serum TT levels before TRT are not significantly associated with the number of circulating EPCs in men with late onset hypogonadism. However, TRT can increase the number of circulating EPCs, which implies the benefit of TRT on endothelial function in hypogonadal men.
循环内皮祖细胞（EPCs）是内皮修复所必需的骨髓源性细胞。EPC 数量低可被视为内皮功能障碍和未来心血管事件的独立预测因子。最近的证据表明，有低促性腺激素症状而无其他混杂危险因素的患者循环祖细胞（PCs）和 EPCs 数量较低，这突出了睾酮在 EPC 增殖和分化中的作用。在这里，我们研究了睾酮替代疗法（TRT）是否可以增加迟发性性腺功能减退症男性的循环 EPC 数量。招募了 46 名（年龄范围为 40-73 岁；平均年龄为 58.3 岁）有低促性腺激素症状的男性，其中 29 名血清总睾酮（TT）水平低于 350ng/dL 的男性接受了为期 12 个月的透皮睾酮凝胶（Androgel；1%睾酮，每天 5g）TRT。使用流式细胞术计算循环 EPC 数量（每 100000 个单核细胞）。在接受 TRT 之前，血清 TT 水平与循环 EPC 数量之间没有显著相关性。与基线时平均循环 EPC 数量（9.5±6.2）相比，TRT 后 3 个月（16.6±11.1，p=0.027）、6 个月（20.3±15.3，p=0.006）和 12 个月（27.2±15.5，p=0.017）时的数量显著更高。因此，我们得出结论，在迟发性性腺功能减退症男性中，TRT 前的血清 TT 水平与循环 EPC 数量无显著相关性。然而，TRT 可以增加循环 EPC 数量，这意味着 TRT 对低促性腺激素男性的内皮功能有益。
