Individuals living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) endure profound bone loss and arterial calcification. The contribution of hypogonadism to these ailments is unknown, as is the utility of androgen therapy to this patient cohort.

To give insight into this issue, David et al. induced CKD in male rats with or without dihydrotestosterone treatment, and compared them with control cohorts. Consistent with induction of CKD, mice exhibited 10-fold increased serum creatinine and 15-fold increased parathyroid hormone levels when compared with control groups. The study found that androgen therapy had no impact on measures of trabecular bone volume or on arterial calcification.

Read the full article in Journal of Endocrinology 257 e220319