TOPLINE:

Men with diabetes and hypogonadism who received testosterone therapy had lower risks for acute kidney injury, kidney failure requiring replacement therapy, cardiovascular events, and all-cause mortality than those who did not receive the treatment.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a retrospective study to examine whether testosterone therapy reduced the risk for acute kidney injury and kidney failure among men with diabetes and hypogonadism.
• They included 26,027 men with diabetes and hypogonadism (mean age, 58.3 years; 71% non-Hispanic White) who received testosterone therapy and matched them to an equal number of untreated men; diabetes was diagnosed before hypogonadism.
• Clinical outcomes were acute kidney injury and kidney failure requiring replacement therapy, identified using diagnostic codes; ischaemic stroke, acute myocardial infarction, and all-cause mortality were also assessed.
• The median follow-up duration was 3.9 years.

TAKEAWAY:

• Participants receiving testosterone therapy had a lower risk for acute kidney injury than matched untreated control individuals (hazard ratio [HR], 0.93; P = .01).
• Testosterone therapy was also associated with a lower risk for kidney failure requiring replacement therapy than no testosterone (HR, 0.81; P = .001).
• Men treated with testosterone had lower odds of acute myocardial infarction, ischaemic stroke, and atrial fibrillation than matched untreated control individuals; all-cause mortality was also lower in the testosterone group.

IN PRACTICE:

"[The study] findings suggest that testosterone therapy could be more readily considered for men with diabetes and hypogonadism as a potential intervention to prevent kidney injury," the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Fabrice Bonnet, Service Endocrinologie-Diabétologie CHU de Rennes, Université de Rennes, Rennes, France. It was published online on October 01, 2025, in Cardiovascular Diabetology.

LIMITATIONS:

The results observed in this study might not have accounted for unmeasured confounding factors. Data on testosterone dose, formulation, and adherence during follow-up were unavailable. The predominantly White non-Hispanic study population may have limited generalisability to other ethnic groups.

DISCLOSURES:

No funding was received from any public, commercial, or non-profit organisations for this research. The authors reported having no competing interests.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.