ISSN 1016-5169 | E-ISSN 1308-4488
Archives of the Turkish Society of Cardiology
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Serum Total Testosterone Levels and Coronary Disease Risk in Postmenopausal Turkish Women [Turk Kardiyol Dern Ars]
Turk Kardiyol Dern Ars. 2004; 32(3): 137-144

Serum Total Testosterone Levels and Coronary Disease Risk in Postmenopausal Turkish Women

Altan ONAT1, Hüseyin UYAREL1, Serdar TÜRKMEN1, Gülay HERGENÇ1, Bülent UZUNLAR1, İbrahim SARI1, Mehmet YAZICI1, Günay CAN1, Vedat SANSOY1

The aim of the study was to investigate cross-sectionally the value of serum testosterone levels as a cardiovascular risk factor in a population sample of postmenopausal women recruited from the cohort of the Turkish Adult Risk Factor Study, surveyed in 2003. Metabolic syndrome (MS) was diagnosed based on criteria of the ATP-III, and coronary heart disease (CHD) on the presence of angina and Minnesota coding of the resting ECGs. MS was observed in 57%, CHD in 23% of the study sample. Testosterone concentrations were measured by the immunochemiluminescent method (Elecsys), and values were log-transformed due to the skewed distribution. In 234 women (mean age 61.5±8.4 years), the median total testosterone value was 0.28 and the interquartile range 0.05 to 0.6 nmol/L, without being significantly correlated to age. Among 27 risk parameters tested, the hormone exhibited highest univariate correlations with fibrinogen (r=0.26), body mass index (r=0.26) and waist circumference (r =0.20), furthermore with complement C3 (r=0.15) and (inversely) with apo A-I (r= -0.21). Diagnosis of MS (r=0.18) and individual global risk score (r=0.13) showed also significant correlations with testosterone. In a linear regression analysis for determinants comprising 7 variables, significant independent association was recorded with log fasting insulin alone: a doubling of insulin was associated with a rise of 1.3 nmol/L in total testosterone. Logistic regression failed to reveal the latter to be significantly associated with prevalent CHD, independent of age. It was confirmed that testosterone was closely associated with insulin levels and abdominal obesity as well as with acute phase proteins such as fibrinogen, complement C3, and with apo A-I. Testosterone levels are furthermore correlated in postmenopausal women with MS. Its association with CHD needs to be explored in future on women with a larger sample size. (Türk Kardiyol Dern Arş 2004; 32: 137-144)

Keywords: Epidemiology, coronary disease risk, metabolic syndrome, menopausal women, testosterone

How to cite this article
Altan ONAT, Hüseyin UYAREL, Serdar TÜRKMEN, Gülay HERGENÇ, Bülent UZUNLAR, İbrahim SARI, Mehmet YAZICI, Günay CAN, Vedat SANSOY. Serum Total Testosterone Levels and Coronary Disease Risk in Postmenopausal Turkish Women. Turk Kardiyol Dern Ars. 2004; 32(3): 137-144
Manuscript Language: Turkish


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