 |
Review Article
The effects of androgen therapy in women with premature ovarian insufficiency: A systematic review
1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2 Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland
3 SIMS IVF Centre, Ireland
4 Sidney Liswood Health Science Library, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
5 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
6 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address correspondence to:
Dina Mohamed
Royal Victoria Hospital, 1001 Decarie Blvd, Montreal, Quebec H4A 3J1,
Canada
Message to Corresponding Author
Article ID: 100211Z08DM2025
Access full text article on other devices
Access PDF of article on other devices
How to cite this article
Mohamed D, Shaltout N, Gomaa H, Philippopoulos E, Mejia-Gomez J, Wolfman W. The effects of androgen therapy in women with premature ovarian insufficiency: A systematic review. J Case Rep Images Obstet Gynecol 2025;11(2):8–17.ABSTRACT
Background: Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is a disorder of increasing occurrence and has multiple long-term impacts on affected females’ health; one of which is sexual dysfunction. Testosterone has been shown to improve hypoactive sexual desire disorder in postmenopausal women. Traditional hormone replacement therapy (estrogen and progesterone) is known for its beneficial effects in these cases, but there is still no scientific evidence to support the use of androgen in this situation.
Objective: Critically review and assess the literature on the use of androgen preparations in women with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI).
Search Strategy: Database search included randomized controlled trials, prospective comparative, observational, non-randomized studies, and case series of 10 or more subjects with no time limit restrictions.
Selection criteria: Eligible trials included females below the age of 40, with amenorrhea >4 months, FSH >40 IU/L on two occasions separated by six weeks.
Results: 539 abstracts were double screened, identifying 6 eligible studies; 3 randomized prospective double blinded studies, one randomized placebo controlled, one prospective observational, and one retrospective study. Discrepancies were arbitrated by a third reviewer. Androgen preparations included DHEA, danazol, and testosterone patch. Trials studied the impact of androgen on menstrual pattern, ovarian reserve markers, fertility outcomes, mood, self-esteem, and bone mineral density (BMD).
Conclusion: There was no significant effect of androgen supplementation on mood, self-esteem, or bone mineral density. Although one study demonstrated an increase in ovarian volume and antral follicular count, there was no significant change in ovarian reserve, ovarian function, fertility outcome or menstrual pattern.
Clinical Trial Registration: Trial was registered with open science framework (OSF), DOI: 10.17605/OSF. IO/2MYUV
Keywords: Androgen, Danazol, Dehydroepianderosterone acetate, Premature ovarian failure, Premature ovarian insufficiency, Testosterone
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Author Contributions
Dina Mohamed - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Nada Shaltout - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Hala Gomaa - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Eleni Philippopoulos - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Javier Mejia-Gomez - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Wendy Wolfman - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Guaranter of SubmissionThe corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.
Source of SupportNone
Consent StatementWritten informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.
Data AvailabilityAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Conflict of InterestAuthors declare no conflict of interest.
Copyright© 2025 Dina Mohamed et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.
