Association of serum androgen concentrations with cardiovascular risk factors in elderly male patients with chronic systolic heart failure in China

Objective: To survey the serum androgen concentrations and investigate the relationship between androgen levels and cardiovascular risk factors in elderly male patients with chronic systolic heart failure (HF) in China. Methods: 106 consecutive male patients hospitalized for chronic systolic HF aged from 60 to 87 were enrolled. About 400 healthy age-matched men were compared as a control group. Total testosterone (TT), free testosterone (FT), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) were measured. Differences of androgen levels between HF patients and healthy men were determined by t-test and associations of androgen with cardiovascular risk factors were evaluated by partial correlations analyses. Results: Compared with healthy men, TT, FT and DHEAS levels in patients with HF decreased, whereas SHBG level increased significantly (both p < 0.01). TT was negatively correlated with TC, TG and DBP (p < 0.05), FT was negatively correlated with TC, LDL-C and DBP (p < 0.05). SHBG correlated with BMI and smoking history positively (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Level of bio-available testosterone decreased with advancing age, especially in men with HF. Men with low levels of bio-available testosterone had worse profiles of cardiovascular risk factors. Treatment of HF is still challenging and testosterone supplementation therapy may be an effective therapeutic option.