Higher testosterone levels are associated with increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in men with cardiovascular disease: results from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study.
- Author:
Stephanie T PAGE
1
;
Beth A MOHR
;
Carol L LINK
;
Amy B O'DONNELL
;
William J BREMNER
;
John B MCKINLAY
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH: Adult; Aged; Cardiovascular Diseases; blood; Cholesterol, HDL; blood; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Testosterone; blood
- From: Asian Journal of Andrology 2008;10(2):193-200
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
AIMTo study the relationship between circulating androgens (total testosterone [TT], free testosterone [fT] and dihydrotestosterone [DHT]) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in men with and without cardiovascular disease (CVD).
METHODSCross-sectional analyses included 1 661 baseline samples from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study (MMAS), a population-based cohort of men ages 40-70 years. Serum hormones were measured by radioimmunoassay and HDL-C was determined following precipitation of the lower density lipoproteins. CVD was determined by self-report. Analyses were performed using multiple linear regression.
RESULTSTT and HDL-C were positively correlated in the entire sample (r=0.11, P=0.0001). After adjusting for confounders, we found this relationship was mostly limited to the 209 men with CVD. Among men with CVD, TT (P=0.0004), fT (P=0.0172) and DHT (P=0.0128) were all positively correlated with HDL-C, whereas in men without CVD only TT correlated with HDL-C (P=0.0099).
CONCLUSIONOur results suggest that if androgens contribute to CVD in middle-aged men, the effect is not related to a suppressive effect of endogenous T on HDL-C.
