Effects of androgen on vascular and inflammatory biomarkers in a female hypertensive population

Background: Androgen is a steroid hormone associated with high blood pressure (BP). The effect of androgen on BP in females is unknown. Methods: Androgen, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin (IL)-6 and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 were evaluated in females with menstruation disorders (n = 135, 28 5 years old) and normal BP, pre-hypertension, stage 1 hypertension, and stage 2 hypertension. Results: Normal-BP (n = 57), pre-hypertension (n = 44), stage-1-hypertension (n = 21), and stage-2-hypertension (n = 13) females had similar androgen (3.3 +/- 1.5, 2.7 +/- 1.2, 3.1 +/- 1.4, and 3.5 +/- 1.3 ng/ml, p>0.05) and IL-6 levels (1.7 +/- 2.2, 1.9 +/- 2.6, 1.3 +/- 1.2 and 2.4 +/- 3.3 pg/ml, p > 0.05). However, normal BP females had lower MMP-9 (609 +/- 307 versus 891 +/- 385 ng/ml, p < 0.05)than stage-1-hypertension females. In addition, normal BP females had lower VEGF (166 +/- 103 versus 255 +/- 139, 272 +/- 128 and 301 +/- 216 pg/ml, p < 0.05) than the other three groups. In normal-androgen females, VEGF levels were similar among the four groups. However, in high-androgen females, normal BP groups had lower VEGF levels than pre-hypertension, stage-1, and stage-2 hypertension groups (166 +/- 94 versus 294 +/- 153, 281 +/- 160 and 357 +/- 253 p < 0.05). Conclusions: Androgen can modulate growth factors and extracellular matrix proteins, which may contribute to the pathophysiology of hypertension in young females.