Association of plasma total testosterone level and metabolic syndrome in adult males

Introduction: Low testosterone level has strongly been correlated with body fat accumulation and abdominal obesity in men. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate testosterone level in men with and without metabolic syndrome to determine the relationship between testosterone and metabolic syndrome. Patients and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 172 cases of metabolic syndrome and 172 participants as a control group in Rasoul Akram hospital, Tehran, Iran. Demographic characteristics, fasting blood sugar (FBS), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), and testosterone levels were recorded. SPSS version 21.0 and SAS version 9.1 were used for statistical analysis. Level of significance was considered 0.05. Results: The mean age of the two groups were 45.1±9.3 years and 41.5 ±11.2 years, respectively. There was a significant difference in serum testosterone levels between both groups and low testosterone levels were associated with metabolic syndrome (P<0.001). Serum testosterone levels showed a significant negative correlation with age in the metabolic syndrome group (r= -0.16, P=0.02). The relationship between metabolic syndrome and total plasma testosterone level using logistic regression model showed that, by increasing the total plasma testosterone level, the odds ratio for metabolic syndrome was 0.076 (95% CI: 0.027-0.216; P< 0.001). Conclusion: According to the results, low level of testosterone was related to the presence of metabolic syndrome in adult males. Future studies can investigate diagnostic value of testosterone level in this syndrome.

Influence of testosterone on mean arterial pressure: A physiological study in male and female normotensive WKY and hypertensive SHR rats

Introduction Testosterone plays an important role in the blood pressure regulation. However, information with regard to the effect of this hormone on blood pressure in normotensive and hypertensive conditions is limited. Therefore, in this study, the relationship between plasma testosterone level and mean arterial pressure (MAP) was investigated under these conditions. Methods Normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and hypertensive Spontaneous Hypertensive (SHR) male and female rats were gonadectomized with female rats treated with testosterone. Estrous cycle stages of intact female rats of both strains were identified by vaginal smear. Pressure in the carotid artery of anesthetized rats was measured via direct cannulation technique. The blood was withdrawn for plasma testosterone level measurement by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Treatment of ovariectomized female WKY and SHR rats with testosterone for 6-week duration has resulted in MAP to increase (P < 0.05). In male WKY and SHR rats, MAP and plasma testosterone levels decreased by orchidectomy (P < 0.05). No significant differences in MAP and plasma testosterone levels were observed in intact female WKY and SHR rats between stages of the estrous cycle. Conclusions The effects seen in testosterone-treated ovariectomized female rats and in orchidectomized male rats suggested that testosterone could play an important role in causing the blood pressure to increase.