Serum DHEA, testosterone levels inversely linked to CAC in older men

In older men, serum levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and testosterone correlate inversely with coronary artery calcification (CAC), partially independently from each other, a study has shown.

The authors analysed a comprehensive sex steroid profile, including DHEA, androstenedione, estrone, testosterone, oestradiol, and dihydrotestosterone in 1,287 men (mean age 76 years) from the population-based AGES-Reykjavik study using gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. They also calculated the bioavailable hormone levels and assayed the sex hormone‒binding globulin (SHBG).

Computed tomography was used to determine the CAC score. The main outcomes measured were cross-sectional associations between DHEA, androstenedione, estrone, testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and oestradiol and quintiles of CAC.

CAC was inversely associated with serum levels of DHEA, androstenedione, testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and bioavailable testosterone, but not with estrone, oestradiol, bioavailable oestradiol, and SHBG. After adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, the association of CAC with DHEA, testosterone, and bioavailable testosterone persisted.

Moreover, the associations between adrenal-derived DHEA and testes-derived testosterone and CAC were partially independent.

“These results raise the question whether androgens from both the adrenals and the testes may contribute to male cardiovascular health,” the authors said.

“Vascular calcification parallels the development of atherosclerosis, but is increasingly recognized as a diversified, highly regulated process, which itself may have pathophysiological importance for clinical cardiovascular events,” they noted.