Can Testosterone Reduce the Effects of Fatty Liver Disease and Diabetes in Men?

The answer to this question may be complicated, but there have been some promising studies of how testosterone affects these disorders.

This article examines two such studies, the results of which suggest that symptoms of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes in men who are treated with testosterone may be reduced.

Because NAFLD is the most common chronic liver disease in the United States, affecting nearly a quarter of Americans and around 10% of Americans have type 2 diabetes, these results can lead to treatments of which tens of millions of people in the United States alone will benefit.

What is NAFLD?

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is an umbrella term for a range of liver diseases that affect people who drink little or no alcohol but still store too much fat in their liver cells. Perhaps the most alarming aspect of NAFLD is that its mildest form can be difficult to identify and treat as there may not be any obvious symptoms.

Some patients with NAFLD develop non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an aggressive form of fatty liver that causes severe inflammation of the liver and sometimes progresses to cirrhosis and liver failure, with harm similar to heavy alcohol use.

As for the causes, experts cannot exactly say why some people accumulate fat in the liver and others do not.

There is still a lack of information on the role of genetics, but NAFLD and NASH have both been linked to obesity, insulin resistance, high blood sugar (an indication of prediabetes or type 2 diabetes), and high levels of triglycerides in the blood. These combined factors appear to increase the risk of fat accumulation in the liver.

Testosterone therapy is a potential treatment for men with NAFLD. have to fight

The good news is that a recent study at the University of Ljublijana shows that testosterone therapy can reduce NAFLD-related symptoms in obese men with type 2 diabetes and hypogonadism. The results were presented at the 23rd European Congress of Endocrinology on May 25, 2021.

“Testosterone could potentially affect NAFLD due to its myogenic and anti-inflammatory effects, prompting us to include NAFLD as one of the areas of our study.

In addition, studies of the effects of testosterone on NAFLD in patients with type 2 diabetes are rare, compounding the need for us to address this interesting but often neglected complication of type 2 diabetes, ”said Kristina Groti Antonic, MD , Ph .D., Specialist in Internal Medicine in the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases of the University Hospital Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The research team analyzed data from 55 men with obesity, functional hypogonadism, and type 2 diabetes and tracked their reactions for two years. One group received 1,000 mg of testosterone undecanoate for two years and the placebo group did not receive the same amount until the second year.

The researchers found normalized testosterone levels and no side effects in both groups. The study shows that testosterone therapy can be an effective solution for obese men struggling with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Testosterone creates changes in body composition that make it easier to deal with the symptoms of NAFLD.

Type 2 diabetes and testosterone treatments

Another study published earlier this year by Gary Wittert, professor of medicine at the University of Adelaide, Australia, shows that two years of testosterone therapy in obese men can prevent or even reverse type 2 diabetes. This effect is accompanied by increased muscle mass, improved sexual function and better grip strength.

While this is too early, there is hope that these results will stimulate further research. The research is set to help hundreds of millions of people as NAFLD and type 2 diabetes affect more than 110 million people in the US alone.

About the author:

Siggi Clavien worked in the alcohol industry for 15 years before starting Equilibrium Labs 10 years ago. With the help of my medical advisory board and advisory board, my goal is to reduce preventable liver disease through a combination of education, research, and product development. You can find more information about her work at https://www.equilibriumlabs.com/.