title: Association of sex hormones with incident 10-year cardiovascular disease and mortality in women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to ascertain whether women with high levels of serum total testosterone (TT) or low levels of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease (CVD), and to investigate potential associations between sex hormones and mortality (all-cause, as well as cause-specific) in the general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on 2129 women with a mean age of 49.0 years were obtained from the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania over a median follow-up of 10.9 years. Associations of baseline levels of TT, SHBG, and rostenedione (ASD), and free testosterone (fT), and of the free androgen index (FAI), with follow-up CVD morbidity, as well as all-cause and CVD mortality, were analyzed using multivariable regression modeling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline the prevalence rate of CVD was 17.8% (378 women) and the incidence of CVD over the follow-up was 50.9 per 1000 person-years. We detected an inverse association between SHBG and baseline CVD in age-adjusted models (relative risk per standard deviation increase: 0.83; 95% confidence interval: 0.74-0.93). We did not detect any significant associations between sex hormone concentrations and incident CVD in age- and multivariable-adjusted Poisson regression models. Furthermore, none of the sex hormones (TT, SHBG, ASD, fT, FAI) were associated with all-cause mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This population-based cohort study did not yield any consistent associations between sex hormones in women and incident CVD or mortality risk.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Gotja
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schaffrath
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kische
authors.affiliation: DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Greifswald, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany; Department of Cardiology, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Greifswald, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wallaschofski
authors.affiliation: DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Greifswald, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany; Institute for Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Völzke
authors.affiliation: DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Greifswald, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany; Department of Cardiology, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dörr
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Greifswald, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nauck
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital South Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Brian G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Keevil
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital South Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brabant
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany; DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Greifswald, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany; European University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Applied Public Health, Rostock, Germany. Electronic address: robin.haring@uni-greifswald.de.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haring
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000735:Androstenedione / Q000097:blood; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin; D013739:Testosterone; D000735:Androstenedione
keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Epidemiology; Sex hormones; Testosterone; Women