Serum Free Testosterone Levels Among Sulfur Mustard Induced Asthma In Iranian War Veterans 15 Years Postwar: A Case Control Study

Data available implies that certain systemic chronic inflammatory disorders and a few pul-monary diseases affect testosterone (T) biosyn-thesis. The status of free testosterone (FT) has not yet been determined in sulfur mustard(SM) induced chronic persistent asthma in Iranian vet-erans for the long term effects. The aim of the study was to assess the status of FT levels on SM induced asthma patients and to compare it with that of non-exposed asthmatics and healthy sub-jects; our goal was also to determine the fre-quency of hypogonad hypogonadism in the tar-get population. Marerials and Methods: Protocol of study was based on random selection of target population using a self-report questionnaire, physician di-agnosed asthma, and ratification of SM expo-sure. Two control groups, age and sex-matched, were enrolled accordingly as the non-exposed asthma and healthy subjects respectively. Serum samples of FT, Follicole Stimulating Hormone (FSH), and Luteinizing Hormone (LH) were measured and documented. Results: Forty-three male, war veterans, exposed to chemical warfare were enrolled as the case group, mean age 53.95±6.80 years. The mean se-rum FT levels were 15.70±10.54 pg/mL, the levels of 32.6% of subjects being below the lower nor-mal range. The mean serum values of FSH, LH, and were 11.91± 9.21 mIu/mL, and 10.33±7.46 mIu/mL, respectively. There were 64 non-chemical asthmatics in the patient group, mean age 52.67±6.44 years. Mean FT levels were 16.97±10.15 pg/mL; 22.2% of the asthma control group had low FT levels. The healthy control group had 46 subjects. The mean FT levels were 22.73±8.30pg/mL. The ANOVA and post hoc (Tukey HSD) tests were used to compare the means of groups. Significant differences were observed between the case and non-exposed asthma groups and the healthy control group. Conclusion: The high significance of low FT was notable in the case and asthma control groups. The results may partly be due to the long term toxic effects of SM on testosterone biosynthesis. Further investigation is strongly recommended.