Low Testosterone Level and Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease in the Elderly Men: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Sex steroids can positively affect the brain function, and low levels of sex steroids may be associated with worse cognitive function in the elderly men. However, previous studies reported contrary findings on the relationship between testosterone level and risk of Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly men. The objective of this study was to comprehensively assess the relationship between low testosterone level and Alzheimer’s disease risk in the elderly men using a meta-analysis. Only prospective cohort studies assessing the influence of low testosterone level on Alzheimer’s disease risk in elderly men were considered eligible. Relative risks (RRs) with 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) were pooled to assess the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in elderly men with low testosterone level. Seven prospective cohort studies with a total of 5251 elderly men and 240 cases of Alzheimer’s disease were included into the meta-analysis. There was moderate degree of heterogeneity among those included studies (I2 = 47.2 %). Meta-analysis using random effect model showed that low plasma testosterone level was significantly associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease in elderly men (random RR = 1.48, 95 % CI 1.12–1.96, P = 0.006). Sensitivity analysis by omitting one study by turns showed that there was no obvious change in the pooled risk estimates, and all pooled RRs were statistically significant. This meta-analysis supports that low plasma testosterone level is significantly associated with increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly men. Low testosterone level is a risk factor of worse cognitive function in the elderly men.