It’s been known that androgens play somerole in the development of kidney stones. Women are three times less likely than men to suffer with a kidney stone attack. Kidney stones occur in men with far greater frequency in the third and fourth decade of life when the levels of serum testosterone are at their highest. With advancing age, the probability for stone formation in men also decreases as is consistent with the decline in serum testosterone levels.
A study published in the International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Researchset out to define “the involvement of serum total testosterone, free testosterone, and dihydrotestosterone in the pathogenesis of urolithiasis (kidney stones) in males by comparing the results with healthy males with no present or past history of urolithiasis (kidney stones) as controls.”
- One hundred eight men were enrolled in the study, 78 with stones and 30 healthy controls.
- Total and free testosterone, DHT, and estradiol samples were drawn from all participants.
- The values for each hormone were higher in those patients with stones as opposed to the controls.
| Table 1: Comparison of gonadal sex hormones in controls and urolithiatic patients |
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The study demonstrates that elevated levels of serum testosterone and serum dihydrotestosterone might be involved in increased incidences of stone formation. The higher levels of estradiol, thought to possibly be a factor in protecting women from kidney stone attack, do not seem to be a protective factor in males with higher serum testosterone levels. International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research, 2016, v6, number 4 |
