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Testosterone Patches Treat Low Sexual Desire in Surgically Menopausal Women: Presented at NAMS

By Jerry Ingram

MIAMI BEACH, FL -- September 22, 2003 -- Treatment with a transdermal testosterone patch significantly increased sexual desire and sexual activity in women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder stemming from surgical removal of both ovaries, according to research from a phase II study.

These findings were presented here on September 19^th at the 14^th Annual Meeting of the North American Menopausal Society.

"Associated with the removal of the ovaries is about a 50% drop across the board in the amount of testosterone that's being produced. So the study was designed to test the delivery of testosterone through a transdermal patch to bring the testosterone levels up into the normal young female range, and to see if that replacement decreased the problems with libido and distress," said Glenn Braunstein, MD, lead researcher and chair, Department of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.

For this 24-week, randomised, double-blind, multi-centre study, investigators enrolled 447 surgically menopausal women receiving oral oestrogen who reported low sexual desire that caused distress. The women were randomised to either a placebo patch or a transdermal testosterone patch designed to deliver 150, 200 or 450 mcg of testosterone per day. The patches were changed twice per week.

To determine the efficacy of the patches, researchers used the Sexual Activity Log (SAL) and sexual desire domain of the Profile of Female Sexual Function (PFSF) to evaluate the frequency of satisfying sexual activity. Hormone levels, adverse events and clinical laboratory results were evaluated.

Dr. Braunstein and his team found that the group receiving 300 mcg/day of testosterone reported a 30% increase in the frequency of total satisfying sexual activity compared with placebo (P<0.05), and also an 81% increase compared with their own baseline levels (P<0.05). The 150-mcg group, however, had comparable results to the placebo group. The 450-mcg group had no advantage over the 300-mcg group.

Adverse effects with testosterone were not unlike those reported with placebo, and there were minimal changes in laboratory assessments, the researchers stated.

"Low libido causing personal distress is a common finding in women who have undergone surgical removal of their ovaries. Transdermal testosterone delivers physiologic concentrations of testosterone directly to the blood stream, and this decreases the distress, [and] increases sexual activity [and] sexual desire, and is quite safe," added Dr. Braunstein.


[Study title: Testosterone Patches for the Treatment of Low Sexual Desire in Surgically Menopausal Women. Abstract P70]

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