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Pharmacologically induced hypogonadism and sexual function in healthy young women and men
Plain-language guide to PMID 18354393 (2009): double-blind randomized controlled trial study of Leuprolide in 20 men, sexual function & libido (women and men).
Key Facts
- PMID
- 18354393
- Journal
- Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
- Year
- 2009
- Study type
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Authors
- Schmidt PJ et al. (6 authors)
- DOI
- 10.1038/npp.2008.24
What This Study Did, in Plain Language
What Was Tested
Researchers studied Leuprolide in the context of sexual function & libido (women and men) in this randomized controlled trial publication.
Studies fail to find uniform effects of age-related or induced hypogonadism on human sexual function.
The researchers examined the effects of induced hypogonadism on sexual function in healthy men and women and attempted to identify predictors of the sexual response to induced hypogonadism or hormone addback.
Who Took Part
The abstract describes 20 men taking part.
The age groups tagged for this paper are adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.
How the Study Was Run
The design is described as randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover.
Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Leuprolide and who got the comparison, which limits bias.
Neither the men nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Leuprolide, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.
A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Leuprolide group a baseline to be compared against.
Each person switched between Leuprolide and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.
The methods mention a period of 3 months.
What Was Measured
A multidimensional scale assessing several domains of sexual function was the main outcome measure.
The subject headings attached to it are Affect, Dihydrotestosterone, Estradiol, Hypogonadism, Leuprolide, Orgasm and Progesterone.
What This Means in Plain Language
The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Leuprolide in 20 men in people with sexual function & libido (women and men) over 3 months.
With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.
The publication is from 2009 (Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology), a journal based in England.
More context: the Leuprolide compound page, Sexual function & libido (women and men) research.
Our Notes on the Compound
Leuprolide: A 9-amino-acid GnRH analog (Lupron, Eligard) that lowers sex-hormone levels with ongoing use; used in prostate cancer, endometriosis and early puberty.
Related Pages
Source: PubMed record. This explanation is written by PeptideWhiz from the public record. For research and education only. Not medical advice; no dosing information is given.