title: Association of serum testosterone with lipid abnormalities in patients with angiographically proven coronary artery disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Low testosterone levels are associated with an atherogenic lipid profile and may contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum total testosterone (TT) levels and lipid profile in angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) in men.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a case-control hospital-based study at Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya, Galle, Sri Lanka.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and six men, 103 with angiographically proven CAD and 103 healthy men as a control group were studied. The serum levels of TT and lipids were assessed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were analyzed using Minitab software (version 15 for Windows).
  
  
  RESULTS
  THE MEAN CONCENTRATIONS OF LIPID PARAMETERS OF PATIENTS AND CONTROLS WERE AS FOLLOWS: Serum total cholesterol (TCh), 5.9 ± 2.8 vs. 5.2 ± 1.6 mmol/l (P = 0.022), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-Ch), 3.9 ± 1.2 vs. 3.1 ± 0.5 mmol/l (P = 0.001), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-Ch), 1.1 ± 0.5 vs. 1.4 ± 0.6 mmol/l (P = 0.001), and TGs, 2.0 ± 1.0 vs. 1.5 ± 0.8 mmol/l (P = 0.001); lipid levels were significantly different between the two groups. The mean levels of TT in the patients and controls were 11.4 ± 2.7 vs. 18.1 ± 7.2 nmol/l (P = 0.001), significantly different. Among CAD patients, a significant positive association was found between testosterone and HDL-Ch (r = 0.623, P = 0.001), whereas a negative association was found with LDL-Ch (r = -0.579, P = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low levels of TT in men with CAD that appear together with an atherogenic lipid milieu may be involved in the pathogenesis of CAD. The observed association between testosterone and HDL-Ch suggests a protective effect of the hormone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Chandima Madhu
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Wickramatilake
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Mohamed Rifdy
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mohideen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Chitra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pathirana
keywords: Coronary artery disease; lipid profile; testosterone