Effects of hormonal replacement treatment on bone mineral density and metabolism in hypogonadal patients

We investigated 22 male patients affected by prepubertal hypogonadism with a mean age of 34.3 +/- 5.2. A significant reduction of bone mineral density (BMD) at both the lumbar spine (L2-L4, -14%, 1.039 +/- 0.11 vs. 1.217 +/- 0.16 g/cm(2), P = 0.005) and femoral neck (-11%; 0.927 +/- 0.09 vs. 1.034 /- 0.16 g/cm(2), P = 0.01) was found in patients compared to age-matched co ntrols. The mean Z score was -1.55 for vertebrae and -1.33 for femur. Eleve n and nine patients, respectively, had a lumbar and femoral BMD at least 1 S.D, below the normal mean; 8 and 4, respectively, 2 S.D. below. There was a strong positive correlation between BMD and duration of hormone replaceme nt treatment (HRT) for both sites: respectively, r = 0.71, P < 0.005 for th e vertebrae, and r = 0.60, P < 0.01 for the femur. A weak correlation was a lso present between onset of HRT and BMD: r = 0.6, P < 0.01 at the lumbar l evel, and r = 0.47, P < 0.05 at the femoral neck. (C) 2000 Published by Els evier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.