The inverse relationship between thoracic aortic intima media thickness and testosterone level.
BACKGROUND
It is known that testosterone prevents coronary artery disease, and lower testosterone level is a risk factor for ischemic heart disease in men. However, there is no report showing the relationship between testosterone level and severity of thoracic aortic atherosclerosis.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether a relationship exists between atherosclerotic thoracic aortic intima media thickness (TAIT) and testosterone level.


METHODS
Forty-two male patients (mean age 56 +/- 12 years) without a history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease referred for transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) were included. Intima media thickness of aorta was evaluated in each patient by using TEE. Testosterone levels were measured using a commercial kit. Blood chemistry parameters were measured by automated analyzers. The data obtained was evaluated by using correlation analyses and linear regression analysis tests.


RESULTS
Mean testosterone values were 507 +/- 209 ng/dl. Testosterone levels showed a negative significant correlation with TAIT (r = -765, p < 0.001). In addition, testosterone levels showed positive correlations with albumin (r = 0.690, p = 0.019) and negative correlations with uric acid (r = -0.630, p < 0.001), HsCRP (r = -0.449, p = 0.003), fibrinogen (r = -0.508, p = 0.001), and white blood cells (r = -0.433, p = 0.005). On the other hand, multiple linear regression analysis showed that TAIT was independently associated with testosterone and uric acid (beta = -0.610, p = 0.002 versus beta = 0.409, p = 0.026 respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
This study indicates that there is an independent relationship between testosterone and TAIT.
Demirbag
Recep
R
Harran University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Sanliurfa, Turkey. rdemirbag@yahoo.com
Yilmaz
Remzi
R
Ulucay
Abdullah
A
Unlu
Durmus
D
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000473:pathology*; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000473:pathology*; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000097:blood
D014527:Uric Acid; D013739:Testosterone; D005340:Fibrinogen; D002097:C-Reactive Protein