Int J Cardiol. 2009 Nov 16.
Cardiovascular disease and androgens: A review.
Kaushik M, Sontineni SP, Hunter C.
Department of Medicine, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
Globally, cardiovascular disease is the single largest cause of mortality. The differences in pattern of cardiovascular
disease between the two genders have not been explained properly. The spotlight has largely been focused on estrogens
but no conclusive evidence has proven its role in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Consequently, androgens
have attracted significant interest in explaining the gender difference in cardiovascular disease. More studies in last two
decades have increased our knowledge about the effects of androgens on cardiovascular disease progression.
Evidence for age related fall in testosterone levels in males and increasing cardiovascular events with age had lead to the
postulation of idea of 'andropause or male menopause'. Unfortunately, for the last few decades the androgens have been
highlighted as agents of abuse among athletes all over the world. There have been multiple reports of their association
with sudden cardiac death and adverse cardiovascular outcomes when abused.
Contrastingly, there has been an increasing prescription use of testosterone supplementation in various conditions
related to androgen deficiency state and for many other off-label indications. Human observational studies have mostly
concluded that men with lower testosterone levels tend to have higher incidence of coronary artery disease.
Emerging evidence supports that lower androgen levels predict poor cardiovascular risk profile. Role with
supplementation of testosterone for cardiovascular disease is being studied in both primary and secondary prevention
stages and its safety being evaluated. This is an appropriate time to review the role of androgens specifically from a
cardiovascular standpoint.
PMID: 19923015 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
