Fig. 1: Testosterone levels in H7N9-infected patients compared to control cohorts.
From: H7N9 avian influenza virus infection in men is associated with testosterone depletion
a Total testosterone expression levels were measured in sera from H7N9 IAV-infected male patients (18–49 yrs: n = 33, ≥50 yrs: n = 38) and compared to male controls as follows: (i) H7N9-negative poultry workers (18–49 yrs: n = 32, ≥50 yrs: n = 45) and (ii) H7N9-negative close contacts (18–49 yrs: n = 29, ≥50 yrs: n = 16). b Total testosterone expression levels in H7N9-infected male patients were compared in dependency of disease outcome (18–49 yrs survival/death: n = 18/15, ≥50 yrs survival/death: n = 27/11). c Total testosterone expression levels were measured in sera from H7N9 IAV-infected female patients (18–49 yrs: n = 10, ≥50 yrs: n = 16) and compared to female control groups as follows: (i) H7N9-negative poultry workers (18–49 yrs: n = 11, ≥50 yrs: n = 20) and (ii) H7N9-negative close contacts (18–49 yrs: n = 11, ≥50 yrs: n = 15). d Total testosterone expression levels in H7N9 IAV-infected female patients were compared in dependency of disease outcome (18–49 yrs survival/death: n = 4/6, ≥50 yrs survival/death: n = 10/6). e, f Total testosterone expression levels were measured in the plasma from seasonal influenza-infected male (18–49 yrs outpatient/hospitalized: n = 15/11, ≥50 yrs outpatient/hospitalized: n = 12/14) (e) and female patients (18–49 yrs outpatient/hospitalized: n = 12/4, ≥50 yrs outpatient/hospitalized: n = 13/10) (f) and compared in dependency of disease severity (outpatient vs. hospitalized). a, c The age-specific reference range of testosterone in Chinese men and women was added as dotted lines in (a) and (c) (no age difference in testosterone in Chinese men)14. a–f Data are presented as Box-and-whisker plots (Tukey). The horizontal line in each box represents the median value. The 25th–75th percentiles represent the endpoints of the box. The whiskers stretch to the lowest and highest values within 1.5 times the interquartile range (IQR) from the 25th–75th percentiles. Dots represent outliers according to Tukey’s definition. Unpaired, two-tailed non-parametric analysis (Mann‒Whitney test) was used for comparisons between two groups (b, d, e, f). The Kruskal‒Wallis test (a, c) was used for comparisons among the three groups. P values were classified into four groups: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001. Source data are provided as a Source data file.
