Advances in male hormonal contraception.

Contraception is a basic human right for its role on health, quality of life and wellbeing of the woman and of the society as a whole. Since the introduction of female hormonal contraception the responsibility of family planning has always been with women. Currently there are only a few contraceptive methods available for men, but recently, men have become more interested in supporting their partners actively.

Effects of three different testosterone formulations in female-to-male transsexual persons.

Introduction: Gender dysphoria is characterized by a strong discomfort with the gender assigned at birth and the urge to live as a member of the opposite gender. The acquisition of phenotypic features of the desired gender requires the use of cross-sex hormones. Female-to-male (FtM) transsexual persons are treated with testosterone to induce virilization.

Long-term influence of combined oral contraceptive use on the clinical course of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To assess the long-term effects of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) on the clinical course of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), focusing on disability progression and evolution to secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS).

Design: Retrospective and exploratory study.

Setting: Academic medical center.

A prospective study on sexual function and mood in female-to-male transsexuals during testosterone administration and after sex reassignment surgery.

Testosterone administration in female-to-male transsexual subjects aims to develop and maintain the characteristics of the desired sex. Very little data exists on its effects on sexuality of female-to-male transsexuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate sexual function and mood of female-to-male transsexuals from their first visit, throughout testosterone administration and after sex reassignment surgery.

Prevalence of sexual dysfunction among postmenopausal women with and without metabolic syndrome.

Introduction: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a multifactorial disease characterized by the co-occurrence of impaired glucose tolerance/diabetes, central obesity, high levels of triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein, and hypertension. Its prevalence is higher in menopausal women. We, and others, have recently shown that female sexual dysfunction (FSD) affects menopausal women.

Small variations in crucial steps of TUNEL assay coupled to flow cytometry greatly affect measures of sperm DNA fragmentation.

Techniques for assessing sperm DNA damage are numerous and various. There are 2 main types of assay: direct and indirect. The former directly detects the amount of sperm DNA damage, whereas the latter reveals the effects of an exogenous insult on sperm chromatin.

Effects of testosterone undecanoate administered alone or in combination with letrozole or dutasteride in female to male transsexuals.

Introduction: Testosterone undecanoate (TU) has potential as androgen therapy for ovariectomized female to male (FtM) transsexual subjects; however, the long-term physiologic effects of TU treatment, the significance of testosterone (T), and the T metabolites dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and estradiol (E) on specific outcome parameters are currently unknown.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term treatment of TU with regard to bone metabolism, body composition, and lipid profile in FtM subjects, and to evaluate the relationship between observed effects and circulating levels of T, E, and DHT.

Main Outcome Measures: Circulating follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, T, E, DHT, and lipid concentrations were measured, as well as bone metabolism, body composition, and insulin resistance.

Male hormonal contraception: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Background: This study was performed to assess spermatogenesis suppression and safety of a new combination of an etonogestrel (ENG) implant combined with testosterone undecanoate (TU) injections for male contraception. This is the first large placebo-controlled study for male hormonal contraception.

Design And Study Subjects: In this double-blind, multicenter study, we randomly assigned 354 healthy men to receive either a low- or high-release ENG implant sc combined with im TU injections (750 mg every 10 or 12 wk or 1000 mg every 12 wk) or placebo implant and injections.

Cross-sex hormone administration changes pain in transsexual women and men.

Chronic pain is gender-related, since there is a clear predominance of one sex with respect to the other in most pain syndromes. Gonadal hormones are known to affect the occurrence and incidence of pain. Transsexuals receive cross-sex hormones to develop and maintain somatic characteristics of the opposite sex: male to female transsexuals (MtF) are administered estrogens and anti-androgens, while female to male transsexuals (FtM) are administered androgens.

Testosterone decreases adiponectin levels in female to male transsexuals.

Aim: To evaluate the effect of testosterone (T) on adiponectin serum levels in transsexual female patients.

Methods: We measured adiponectin, leptin, luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone, T, estradiol, lipid profile, biochemical parameters and body composition in 16 transsexual female patients at baseline and after 6 months of T treatment (100 mg Testoviron Depot /10 days, i.m.

Higher testosterone dose impairs sperm suppression induced by a combined androgen-progestin regimen.

In this study we compared the effects of high-dose and low-dose testosterone enanthate (TE) administered with the same dose of cyproterone acetate (CPA). Eighteen men aged 21-45 were treated with CPA 5 mg/day and with TE 100 mg/week (n = 9; CPA-5-100) or TE 200 mg/week (n = 9; CPA-5-200) for 16 weeks. Semen analyses were performed every 2 weeks; physical examination and chemistry, hematology, gonadotropin, and testosterone measurements were performed every 4 weeks.

Twenty-one day administration of dienogest reversibly suppresses gonadotropins and testosterone in normal men.

Androgen-progestin combinations are promising male contraceptive regimens. Optimization of these regimens includes the development of new progestins with more favorable biological properties. In this context we tested the effects of the progestin dienogest (DNG) on reproductive hormones and metabolic parameters in men.