Psychoendocrine sequelae of chronic testosterone deficiency

The precise role of testosterone in regulating mood, especially in alleviat ing depression, remains unclear although converging evidence indicates that androgens may exert antidepressant action. A model that may potentially as sist in the clarification of androgen-mediated effects on mood is the study of cryptorchid men who may grow up with varying degrees of testosterone de ficiency depending on the time in their life when cryptorchism is corrected . In this report, we describe a rare case of bilateral cryptorchism that di d not come to the attention of the physician to implement effective substit ution with testosterone until much later in adult life. The patient develop ed severe and suicidal depression which responded solely to testosterone. I n addition, the patient experienced a delayed but accelerated puberty witho ut any adverse events. These observations, although based on a single case, provide strong evidence that testosterone may exert powerful antidepressan t action in the absence of concomitant antidepressant agents. (C) 1999 Else vier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.