U.S. researchers have found a link between male obesity and low testosterone levels.

A research conducted by University at Buffalo (UB) endocrinologists showed that 40 percent of obese participants involved in the Hypogonadism in Males (HIM) study had lower-than- normal testosterone readings.

The percentage rose to 50 percent among obese men with diabetes, according to the study appearing online on Monday in the journal Diabetes Care.

The study also revealed that as body mass index (BMI) - a relationship of weight-to-height - increased, testosterone levels fell.

Obesity has long been known as a condition linked to heart disease and diabetes, but this is the largest analysis of the association between obesity and low testosterone, and the first to compare prevalence of low testosterone with obesity and diabetes separately and together.

The study showed that obesity and diabetes may exert independent influences on testosterone concentrations.

“The effect of diabetes on lowering testosterone levels was similar to that of a weight gain of approximately 20 pounds,” said Sandeep Dhindsa, an endocrinology specialist in the UB Department of Medicine and first author of the study. “In view of the fact that almost one-third of the U.S. is obese, these observations have profound pathophysiological, clinical, epidemiological and public health implications.”

The HIM study was conducted from November 2003 to February 2004 in 95 primary care practices throughout the U.S. The study involved 2,165 men 45 years or older who provided blood samples for analysis of testosterone concentrations.

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LOS ANGELES, May 3 (Xinhua)
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