Background

Asthma prevalence decreases postpuberty in males. Testosterone inhibits airway smooth muscle contraction and attenuates type 2 inflammation.

Objective

To investigate the relationship between serum testosterone and current asthma prevalence and lung function in a nationally representative data set.

Methods

Serum testosterone and self-reported physician-diagnosed current asthma data were obtained from 7584 participants aged 6 to 80 years from the cross-sectional 2011-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We used logistic regression to test associations between testosterone and current asthma, adjusting for demographic characteristics and stratifying by sex and age; linear regression to evaluate correlations between testosterone and lung function among patients with asthma; and interaction terms to test for effect modification by blood eosinophils and fractional exhaled nitric oxide.

Results

Serum testosterone inversely associated with odds of current asthma in both men and women, but this association was nonlinear. Similar protective effect sizes were observed for both sexes after log₂-transformation of serum testosterone. For every 1-unit increase in log₂ testosterone, the odds of current asthma decreased by 11% in men and 10% in women, although the association was statistically significant in women only among those 12 years or older after multiple imputation. Serum testosterone did not associate with current asthma prevalence among those younger than 12 years. Testosterone associated with increases in FEV₁ in participants with asthma of both sexes. Neither blood eosinophils nor fractional exhaled nitric oxide modified the association between testosterone and current asthma.

Conclusions

Serum testosterone inversely associates with current asthma prevalence regardless of sex and correlates with better lung function in a nationally representative database. Androgen therapy for asthma should be further investigated.

中文翻译：

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无论性别如何，睾丸激素升高都与当前哮喘的可能性降低有关。

背景

男性的青春期后哮喘患病率降低。睾酮抑制气道平滑肌收缩并减轻 2 型炎症。

客观的

在具有全国代表性的数据集中研究血清睾酮与当前哮喘患病率和肺功能之间的关系。

方法

血清睾酮和自我报告的医生诊断的当前哮喘数据来自 2011-2012 年横断面国家健康和营养检查调查的 7584 名 6 至 80 岁参与者。我们使用逻辑回归来测试睾酮与当前哮喘之间的关联，调整人口统计学特征并按性别和年龄分层；线性回归评估哮喘患者睾酮与肺功能之间的相关性；和相互作用术语来测试血液嗜酸性粒细胞和呼出气一氧化氮的影响改变。

结果

血清睾酮与男性和女性当前哮喘的几率呈负相关，但这种关联是非线性的。在血清睾酮的log ₂转化后，对两性都观察到类似的保护作用大小。log ₂睾酮每增加 1 个单位，男性患哮喘的几率降低 11%，女性降低 10%，尽管这种关联在多重插补后仅在 12 岁或以上的女性中具有统计学意义。在 12 岁以下的人群中，血清睾酮与当前的哮喘患病率无关。睾酮与 FEV ₁增加有关在患有两性哮喘的参与者中。血液嗜酸性粒细胞和呼出的一氧化氮分数均未改变睾酮与当前哮喘之间的关联。

结论

无论性别如何，血清睾酮与当前的哮喘患病率呈负相关，并且与全国代表性数据库中更好的肺功能相关。应进一步研究哮喘的雄激素治疗。