Endogenous testosterone and endothelial function in postmenopausal women.
OBJECTIVE
It is well known that coronary heart disease incidence increases in women after menopause. This phenomenon was related to reduced levels of female sex hormones. Estrogen decline, however, is not the only hormonal change during the postmenopausal period and estrogen administration did not protect women from cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it is justified to explore other hormonal changes. The role of androgens is still controversial. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between endogenous sex hormones and endothelial function, measuring the brachial artery flow-mediated dilation.


RESULTS
Sixty postmenopausal women were consecutively enrolled and underwent a clinical and biochemical examination. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation was also evaluated by ultrasound. After correction for confounding variables, testosterone was positively correlated to flow-mediated dilation (beta=0.277, P=0.03). Indeed, women in the lowest testosterone tertile had a flow-mediated dilation smaller than that in the highest tertile (P=0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
This result could suggest that the development of cardiovascular disease after menopause is due not only to estrogen decline but also to androgen decline. More studies are needed to evaluate the role of androgen replacement therapy on postmenopausal women with low level of this hormone.
Montalcini
Tiziana
T
Department of Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica G. Salvatore, University of Catanzaro Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
Gorgone
Gaetano
G
Gazzaruso
Carmine
C
Sesti
Giorgio
G
Perticone
Francesco
F
Pujia
Arturo
A
D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001916:Brachial Artery / Q000502:physiology; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000503:physiopathology; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology*; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012307:Risk Factors; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000502:physiology
D013739:Testosterone