Chest
Original ResearchCystic FibrosisAndrogens, Exercise Capacity, and Muscle Function in Cystic Fibrosis
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
A total of 15 adult male patients with CF were recruited from the outpatient department of the National Referral Centre for Adult Cystic Fibrosis at St. Vincent's University Hospital (Dublin, Ireland). The patients chosen for the study were successive stable patients who had been seen in the outpatient department, met the inclusion criteria, and consented to participate in the trial. The mean FEV1 percent predicted was not significantly different from that of our total adult male CF population.
Results
A total of 15 male patients participated in the study. All patients were > 18 years of age at the time of study (mean age, 23.9 years; age range, 19 to 40 years). FEV1 ranged from 31 to 113% predicted. The baseline data are presented in Table 1. No patients were receiving exogenous corticosteroid medication. Four patients were taking inhaled corticosteroids, four patients had diabetes mellitus, and two patients had good diabetic control as indexed by glycosylated hemoglobin levels of 5.4% and
Discussion
We have shown that male patients with CF who have impaired skeletal muscle strength and exercise capacity, and are not routinely treated with corticosteroids, have normal testosterone levels. Furthermore, there is no correlation between testosterone levels and muscle function or exercise capacity. This indicates that androgen deficiency is not a significant contributor to muscle dysfunction in adult male patients with CF.
The etiology of muscle dysfunction in CF patients is not clearly
Conclusions
We have shown that male patients with CF who have impaired skeletal muscle strength and exercise capacity have normal testosterone levels. Hypogonadism was rare in this group of adult male patients with CF. Furthermore, exercise capacity, peripheral, or respiratory muscle strengths were not correlated with circulating total testosterone levels or calculated FT measurements. These findings would not the support the role of testosterone in muscle dysfunction in CF patients and would not support
Acknowledgment
This study was supported by research grants from the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland and the Health Research Board.
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