Testosterone reduces wound healing

Clin Dermatol. 2007 Jan-Feb;25(1):56-62.
The hormonal regulation of cutaneous wound healing.

Gilliver SC, Ashworth JJ, Ashcroft GS.
Faculty of Life Sciences, Michael Smith Building, M13 9PT Manchester,
United Kingdom.

Conditions of impaired wound healing in the elderly are associated with
substantial morbidity and mortality and impose a significant financial
burden upon the world's health services. The findings of a series of recent
studies have served to highlight the contrasting contributions made by sex
steroid hormones to the regulation of cutaneous repair processes. Although
estrogens accelerate healing, the actions of the "male" sex hormones
5alpha-dihydrotestosterone and testosterone are primarily deleterious. The
shift that occurs in the balance between serum estrogen and androgen levels
as a normal feature of human aging may therefore have important
consequences for fundamental tissue repair processes.