Articles |
From the Departments of Clinical Chemistry, Glostrup Hospital (L.L.J.) and Kolding Hospital (K.W.), and the Departments of Neurology (H.S.J., H.N., T.S.O.) and Radiology (H.O.R.), Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Correspondence to Lise Leth Jeppesen, MD, Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco General Hospital, Bldg 1, Room 101, San Francisco, CA 94110.
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Key Words: risk factor sex hormones stroke testosterone
| Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Epidemiological studies on the role of endogenous sex hormones and ischemic heart disease in men are conflicting. Several case-control studies have shown decreased levels of endogenous testosterone in male survivors of myocardial infarction,2 whereas in two prospective studies, testosterone levels in men who subsequently died from cardiovascular disease were normal.3 4 However, Phillips et al5 report that low serum testosterone level is associated with the degree of coronary artery disease. Endogenous estradiol is elevated in male survivors of myocardial infarction,2 but prospective studies find no association between endogenous estradiol and ischemic heart disease.3 4 6
Thrombus formation is an essential feature in stroke. Exogenous testosterone increases platelet aggregability,7 8 and in animal studies testosterone augments arterial thrombus formation.9 In contrast, endogenous testosterone is negatively associated with plasminogen activator inhibitor-1,10 11 12 fibrinogen,5 and factor VII in men,13 14 suggesting that low levels of endogenous testosterone could increase the risk of thrombosis in men. In men, exogenous estrogen promotes thrombosis,15 16 suggesting that estrogens play a role in thrombogenesis.
To study the role of endogenous sex hormones in stroke, blood levels of total and free testosterone, 17ß-estradiol, LH, and FSH were determined in men with ischemic stroke in the acute phase and after 6 months and were compared with those of healthy control subjects.
| Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
6 months (range, 158 to 289 days) after admission;
none of these patients received hormone therapy after the acute stroke.
Thirty-four patients died before the 6-month examination, and the
rest (n=65) did not respond to our request for an examination in the
outpatient clinic. The patients joining (n=45), the patients alive but
not joining (n=65), and the patients who were dead at the 6-month
examination (n=34) were progressively older and had more severe
strokes, with mean ages of 71.0±1.4, 71.7±1.5, and 73.8±1.4 years,
respectively, and mean SSS scores on admission of 45±2, 43±2, and
26±3, respectively (for definition of SSS score, see "Clinical
Assessment").
Computed Tomographic Measurements
Computed tomographic scan was in most cases performed within 2
weeks (median, 7 days) after onset of stroke in 117 (81%) of the
patients. All scans were described by the same radiologist (H.O.R.)
with no knowledge of the relevant clinical data. The lesion size was
measured in millimeters as the largest visible diameter of the infarct
on computed tomography.
Risk Factors
In patients, these risk factors were taken into account: age,
atrial fibrillation (if present on
electrocardiogram obtained on admission), current
smoking (daily smoking of any kind of tobacco), daily alcohol
consumption, hypertension (under treatment with antihypertensive drugs
when admitted or hypertension diagnosed during the hospital stay),
diabetes (already known, diagnosed during the hospital stay, or blood
glucose on admission >11 mmol/L), ischemic heart disease
(already known or diagnosed during the hospital stay), previous stroke,
and serum cholesterol level and systolic blood
pressure on admission.
Information about risk factors was obtained from hospital records (hypertension, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, and previous stroke) or by asking the patient (smoking and alcohol consumption). If patients were not able to answer sufficiently, relatives were asked.
Clinical Assessment
The SSS, which was used to assess stroke
severity,19 20 evaluates level of consciousness; eye
movement; power in arm, hand, and leg; orientation; aphasia; facial
paresis; and gait. The total score ranges from 0 (maximal severity of
stroke) to 58 points (highest possible score).
Control Subjects
The control group consisted of 47 healthy men recruited from an
activity center for elderly people (wickerwork, weaving, etc). We
included volunteers who agreed to participate in the study and who
reported that they had never had any thromboembolic diseases. None of
the control subjects was receiving hormone therapy. Their mean age was
73.4±1.2 years (range, 46 to 90 years), ie, close to that of the
patients. Obesity was estimated by BMI (weight in kilograms/height in
meters squared).
Blood Sampling and Analyses
In patients, venous blood was obtained a mean of 2.9±0.2 days
(range, 0 to 11 days) after stroke onset. All samples were taken
between 10 AM and 4 PM. Specimens were kept at
-20°C until analysis. Total and free testosterone were
measured by radioimmunoassay (direct method) with kits manufactured by
Diagnostic Products Corp. For total testosterone,
quality controls included 3.8 and 23.3 nmol/L; for free testosterone,
quality controls included 15.0, 24.0, and 73.0 pmol/L. Patient and
control samples were assayed in the same runs.
Estradiol was measured by radioimmunoassay with a delayed addition of tracer.21 Estradiol antiserum was from BioMakor, and tritium-labeled estradiol was obtained from Amersham International. The estradiol in serum was extracted by using tert-butyl methyl ether, and the organic phase was isolated and evaporated to dryness. An aliquot of the redissolved extract was incubated with estradiol antiserum for 20 hours at 4°C. Tritium-labeled estradiol was added, and the tubes were incubated for an additional 6 hours before separation of the antibody-bound fraction with dextran-coated charcoal. Two quality control samples of 60 and 112 pmol/L were assayed in each run.
LH and FSH were measured by a microparticle enzyme immunoassays (IMx LH and IMx FSH, Abbott Laboratories).
The sensitivities of the assays were 0.20 nmol/L, 0.60 pmol/L, 0.5
mU/mL, 0.2 mU/mL, and 10 pmol/L for total testosterone, free
testosterone, LH, FSH, and 17ß-estradiol, respectively. The
intra-assay and interassay imprecision was 5% and 6%, 4% and
9%, 6% and 7%, 4% and 7%, and 4% and 14% for total testosterone,
free testosterone, LH, FSH, and 17ß-estradiol, respectively. Due
to lack of serum, not all hormones were measured in each person (Table 1
).
|
Statistical Analyses
Statistical analyses were performed by using the SPSS
package.22 Since 17ß-estradiol, FSH, and LH were not
normally distributed, data were log-transformed before statistical
analysis. Student's t test was used to
analyze differences between mean values, and ANOVA was used to
analyze differences between multiple groups. Pearson's
correlation coefficient was calculated to determine associations
between continuous variables. Multiple linear regression
analysis was performed with the use of the backward procedure.
A probability value of .05 or less was considered significant. Unless
otherwise stated, values are mean±SEM.
Ethics
The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Copenhagen,
Denmark.
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
Testosterone and Risk Factors for Stroke
Serum free testosterone was significantly negatively associated
with age in patients and control subjects, whereas the association
between serum total testosterone and age was not significant (Table 3
). In patients, serum total testosterone but not free
testosterone was borderline negatively associated with serum
cholesterol (r=-.18, P=.054);
there were no such associations in the control subjects. Patients with
diabetes (n=29) had lower levels of total and free testosterone than
nondiabetics (n=108): 11.4±1.2 versus 14.5±0.6 nmol/L,
P=.02, and 35.3±2.6 versus 42.5±1.5 pmol/L,
P=.03, respectively. Patients with atrial fibrillation
(n=16) had decreased serum free testosterone compared with patients
without atrial fibrillation (n=99): 32.6±3.0 and 41.7±1.5 pmol/L,
respectively, P=.02. In patients, free but not total
testosterone was higher in smokers (n=64) than nonsmokers (n=45):
44.6±2.0 versus 37.7±1.9 pmol/L, P=.02.
|
In control subjects, mean BMI was 25.8±0.5 kg/m2,
and BMI was significantly negatively associated with serum total
testosterone (r=-.39, P=.02) and marginally
significantly associated with serum free testosterone
(r=-.31, P=.07). BMI was not measured in
stroke patients. The risk factor characteristics for all examined
stroke patients, the subgroup of patients examined after 6 months, and
the control subjects are shown in Table 4
.
|
Total and free testosterone levels were not associated with hypertension, alcohol consumption, previous stroke, systolic blood pressure, or ischemic heart disease.
Testosterone and Stroke Severity
In patients, both total and free testosterone levels were
significantly inversely associated with stroke severity (Table 3
) and
6-month mortality (Figure
). Total testosterone was
significantly inversely associated with infarct size (Table 3
). In a
multiple linear regression analysis with SSS score on admission
as the dependent variable and total and free testosterone, age,
atrial fibrillation, diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart
disease, alcohol consumption, serum cholesterol level,
systolic blood pressure, previous stroke, and smoking as
independent variables, free testosterone and atrial fibrillation
were significantly associated with SSS score on admission
(P<.02).
|
17ß-Estradiol and Gonadotropins
Serum concentrations of 17ß-estradiol, FSH, and LH did not
differ in patients and control subjects (Table 1
), and there was no
association between initial severity of the stroke, infarct size, or
6-month mortality with any of these three hormone levels (data not
shown).
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The other possibility is that the cerebral infarct provokes an acute stress reaction, one element of which is a fall in testosterone. This is known to occur in several forms of stress, including myocardial infarction,23 24 surgery,24 and head trauma.24 25 Consistent with this idea is the fact that both total and free testosterone concentrations tended to increase between the acute phase and the 6-month follow-up in a subgroup of patients. Notably, this increase was not statistically significant for total testosterone, which leaves unanswered the question of cause versus protracted effect of the stroke. Furthermore, the subgroup of patients examined after 6 months was self-selected, being younger and with milder strokes than the unexamined group of patients, so any conclusions from the follow-up data must be tentative.
Our data suggest that if the decrease in serum testosterone is a result of stroke, the effect is there within the first day after onset: even when blood samples were obtained the first day after stroke, total and free testosterone levels were lower than in the control group. This implies that even if the decreased testosterone is a stress reaction, an acute lowering could be important for progression of the stroke, eg, by lowering fibrinolytic activity,10 11 12 which would delay lysis of a preformed thrombus.
On the basis of these speculations, it is tempting to hypothesize that men with acute stroke and low serum testosterone levels could benefit from treatment with exogenous testosterone. Although testosterone treatment increases the aggregability of human platelets7 and enhances thrombosis in animal models,8 9 treatment with the anabolic steroid Stanozolol improves fibrinolytic activity,26 27 and testosterone treatment decreases blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels.28 29 The anabolic effects of testosterone, which has been used for stimulation of wound healing,30 could also promote tissue repair after ischemic injury.
Serum testosterone may be negatively associated with blood pressure,4 6 31 diabetes,32 33 visceral adiposity,34 35 and prevalent ischemic heart disease5 36 37 38 as well as plasma concentrations of triglycerides,35 39 fibrinogen,5 LDL,35 40 and total cholesterol.36 40 Additionally, high serum testosterone is associated with smoking3 13 41 and HDL cholesterol.5 35 In accordance with these observations, in the present patient group, diabetics had lower levels of both total and free testosterone than nondiabetics, total testosterone was negatively associated with serum cholesterol in the patients, and there was a positive association between free testosterone and smoking. All this supports the validity of the present study. The finding that the estradiol-to-testosterone ratio was higher in stroke patients than healthy control subjects is consistent with observations in patients with myocardial infarction.36 That we found no association between serum testosterone and systolic blood pressure could be due to fluctuations in blood pressure on the day of admission. The advanced age of the patients could also play a role.
Importantly, the differences in total and free testosterone between patients and control subjects could not be explained by associations with other risk factors for stroke. Compared with control subjects, patients who smoked and patients without atrial fibrillation had decreased levels of free testosterone, and patients without diabetes had lower levels of total and free testosterone. The difference in total testosterone between patients and control subjects remained after adjustment for serum cholesterol.
We are aware that some potential limitations in our experimental design could affect the findings. Some studies have found a decline in both total and free testosterone with age,41 42 43 whereas others could not confirm this.31 44 45 Our control group was slightly older than the patient group (73.4 versus 72.0 years), and free testosterone but not total testosterone was significantly negatively associated with age in both patients and control subjects. Notably, bioavailable testosterone includes both free testosterone and testosterone bound to proteins other than sex hormonebinding globulin (mainly albumin).44 However, both total and free testosterone levels were significantly lower in patients than in control subjects, even after adjusting for age.
Low testosterone level is associated with a high BMI.32 35 38 39 This finding is in accordance with the significant inverse association between BMI and total serum testosterone in the control subjects of the present study. A larger BMI in stroke patients than in control subjects may therefore have contributed to the observed difference in serum testosterone level between the two groups. Unfortunately, BMI was not measured in the stroke patients. In the control group, the slope of the regression line for total testosterone as a function of BMI was -0.5 nmol·L-1·kg · m-2, which is very similar to the corresponding slope reported on BMI and serum testosterone in a study that included 985 men.32 With the use of this slope, it may be extrapolated that if the observed difference in mean values of serum total testosterone between patients and control subjects of 2.7 nmol/L was to be explained fully by a difference in BMI between the two groups, the mean BMI of the stroke patients may have been as high as 31 kg/m2, which corresponds to the 95th percentile of BMI in healthy Danes of the same age.46 It is therefore unlikely that a difference in BMI can explain the difference in serum testosterone between stroke patients and control subjects. These speculations, however, are based on the assumption of a similar linear relationship between BMI and serum testosterone level in patients and control subjects, which has not been documented.
There is a well-known diurnal variation in serum testosterone level in young47 48 49 but not elderly men.43 50 51 All our blood samples were taken between 10 AM and 4 PM, and no association between serum testosterone and time of blood sampling was found. Nor was there any variation with time of year, in contrast to findings in young men.52 53 So it is unlikely that the difference in total and free testosterone between patients and control subjects can be attributed to time of blood sampling. Fasting in the patient group due to acute illness apparently could not explain the difference between patients and control subjects. Additionally, patients who had not fasted on the day of blood sampling had lower serum testosterone than the control group (data not shown).
To probe the mechanism by which testosterone is decreased, we also measured FSH and LH. There were no differences in the serum levels of these hormones between patients and control subjects. These results are in accordance with the hypothesis that gonadotropins correlate poorly with testicular function in elderly men.54 Thus, it is unlikely that changes in these regulating hormones could explain the observed differences in serum testosterone between patients and control subjects.
It cannot be excluded that chronic hypotestosteronemia is a causative factor of stroke in men. Low testosterone levels are correlated with the degree of coronary artery disease,5 which may predispose to stroke,1 and men with low serum testosterone have a low fibrinolytic activity,10 11 12 which could also increase the stroke risk. Whether the lower testosterone levels in the stroke patients are the result or the cause of the disease cannot be established by the present study. However, since testosterone has potent effects on thrombosis, fibrinolysis, and tissue repair, the present study warrants further research on its role in acute ischemic stroke.
| Selected Abbreviations and Acronyms |
|---|
|
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
Received August 16, 1995; accepted January 19, 1996.
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
2. Kalin MF, Zumoff B. Sex hormones and coronary disease: a review of the clinical studies. Steroids. 1990;55:330-352. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
3.
Cauley JA, Gutai JP, Kuller LH, LeDonne D, Powell
JG. The epidemiology of serum sex
hormones in postmenopausal women. Am J Epidemiol. 1989;129:1120-1131.
4.
Barrett Connor E, Khaw KT.
Endogenous sex hormones and cardiovascular
disease in men: a prospective population-based study.
Circulation. 1988;78:539-545.
5.
Phillips GB, Pinkernell BH, Jing TY. The
association of hypotestosteronemia with coronary artery
disease in men. Arterioscler Thromb. 1994;14:701-706.
6.
Yarnell JW, Beswick AD, Sweetnam PM, Riad Fahmy
D. Endogenous sex hormones and ischemic
heart disease in men: the Caerphilly prospective study.
Arterioscler Thromb. 1993;13:517-520.
7.
Ajayi AAL, Mathur R, Halushka PV. Testosterone
increases human platelet thromboxane A2
receptor density and aggregation responses.
Circulation. 1995;91:2742-2747.
8. Johnson M, Ramey E, Ramwell PW. Androgen-mediated sensitivity in platelet aggregation. Am J Physiol. 1977;232:H381-H385.
9. Uzunova A, Ramey E, Ramwell PW. Effect of testosterone, sex and age on experimentally induced arterial thrombosis. Nature. 1976;261:712-713. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
10.
Yang XC, Jing TY, Resnick LM, Phillips GB.
Relation of hemostatic risk factors to other risk factors for
coronary heart disease and to sex hormones in men.
Arterioscler Thromb. 1993;13:467-471.
11. Caron P, Bennet A, Camare R, Louvet JP, Boneu B, Sie P. Plasminogen activator inhibitor in plasma is related to testosterone in men. Metabolism. 1989;38:1010-1015. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
12. Marques-Vidal P, Sie P, Cambou JP, Chap H, Perret B. Relationships of plasminogen activator inhibitor activity and lipoprotein(a) with insulin, testosterone, 17-beta-estradiol, and testosterone binding globulin in myocardial infarction patients and healthy controls. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1995;80:1794-1798. [Abstract]
13. Bonithon Kopp C, Scarabin PY, Bara L, Castanier M, Jacqueson A, Roger M. Relationship between sex hormones and haemostatic factors in healthy middle-aged men. Atherosclerosis. 1988;71:71-76. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
14. Heller RF, Meade TW, Haines AP, Stirling Y, Miller NE, Lewis B. Inter-relationships between factor VII, serum testosterone and plasma lipoproteins. Thromb Res. 1982;28:423-425. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
15. Henriksson P, Edhag O. Orchidectomy versus oestrogen for prostatic cancer: cardiovascular effects. Br Med J Clin Res Ed. 1986;293:413-415.
16.
The Coronary Drug Project. Findings leading
to discontinuation of the 2.5-mg day estrogen group: the
Coronary Drug Project Research Group. JAMA. 1973;226:652-657.
17. Jorgensen HS, Nakayama H, Raaschou HO, Gam J, Olsen TS. Silent infarction in acute stroke patients: prevalence, localization, risk factors, and clinical significance: the Copenhagen Stroke Study. Stroke. 1994;25:97-104. [Abstract]
18.
WHO Task Force on Stroke and Other Cerebrovascular
Disorders. Stroke, 1989: recommendations on stroke prevention,
diagnosis, and therapy. Stroke. 1989;20:1407-1431.
19.
Scandinavian Stroke Study Group. Multicenter trial of
hemodilution in ischemic stroke: background and study protocol.
Stroke. 1985;16:885-890.
20. Lindenstrom E, Boysen G, Christiansen LW, Rogvi Hansen B, Nielsen PW. Reliability of Scandinavian Neurological Stroke Scale. Cerebrovasc Dis. 1991;1:103-107.
21. Abraham GE, Manilos FS, Garza R. Radioimmunoassay of steroids. In: Abraham GE, ed. Handbook of Radioimmunoassay. New York, NY: Marcel Dekker; 1977:591-656.
22. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. version 6.1. Chicago, Ill: SPSS, Inc; 1995.
23. Wang C, Chan V, Tse TF, Yeung RT. Effect of acute myocardial infarction on pituitary-testicular function. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 1978;9:249-253. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
24.
Woolf PD, Hamill RW, McDonald JV, Lee LA, Kelly
M. Transient hypogonadotropic hypogonadism caused by critical
illness. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1985;60:444-450.
25.
Rudman D, Fleischer AS, Kutner MH, Raggio JF.
Suprahypophyseal hypogonadism and hypothyroidism during prolonged coma
after head trauma. J Clin Endocrinol
Metab. 1977;45:747-754.
26. Winther K, Knudsen JB, Gormsen J. Influence of stanozolol on euglobulin clot lysis. In: Davidson JF, Coccheri S, eds. Progress in Fibrinolysis. New York, NY: Churchill Livingstone; 1985:97-101.
27. Kluft C, Preston FE, Malia RG, Bertina RM, Wijngaards G, Greaves M, Verheijen JH, Dooijewaard G. Stanozolol-induced changes in fibrinolysis and coagulation in healthy adults. Thromb Haemost. 1984;51:157-164. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
28. Marin P, Holmang S, Jonsson L, Sjostrom L, Kvist H, Holm G, Lindstedt G, Bjorntorp P. The effects of testosterone treatment on body composition and metabolism in middle-aged obese men. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1992;16:991-997. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
29. Tenover JS. Effects of testosterone supplementation in the aging male. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1992;75:1092-1098. [Abstract]
30. Kirsner RS, Pardes JB, Eaglstein WH, Falanga V. The clinical spectrum of lipodermatosclerosis. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1993;28:623-627. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
31. Lindholm J, Winkel P, Brodthagen U, Gyntelberg F. Coronary risk factors and plasma sex hormones. Am J Med. 1982;73:648-651. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
32.
Barrett Connor E, Khaw KT, Yen SS.
Endogenous sex hormone levels in older adult men with
diabetes mellitus. Am J Epidemiol. 1990;132:895-901.
33.
Small M, MacRury S, Beastall GH, MacCuish AC.
Oestradiol levels in diabetic men with and without a previous
myocardial infarction. Q J Med. 1987;64:617-623.
34. Field AE, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Longcope C, McKinlay JB. The relation of smoking, age, relative weight, and dietary intake to serum adrenal steroids, sex hormones, and sex hormone-binding globulin in middle-aged men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1994;79:1310-1316. [Abstract]
35. Haffner SM, Mykkanen L, Valdez RA, Katz MS. Relationship of sex hormones to lipids and lipoproteins in non-diabetic men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1993;77:1610-1615. [Abstract]
36.
Sewdarsen M, Jialal I, Vythilingum S, Desai R.
Sex hormone levels in young Indian patients with myocardial
infarction. Arteriosclerosis. 1986;6:418-421.
37. Chute CG, Baron JA, Plymate SR, Kiel DP, Pavia AT, Lozner EC, O'Keefe T, MacDonald GJ. Sex hormones and coronary artery disease. Am J Med. 1987;83:853-859. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
38.
Lichtenstein MJ, Yarnell JW, Elwood PC, Beswick AD,
Sweetnam PM, Marks V, Teale D, Riad Fahmy D. Sex hormones,
insulin, lipids, and prevalent ischemic heart disease.
Am J Epidemiol. 1987;126:647-657.
39. Phillips GB. Relationship between serum sex hormones and the glucose-insulin-lipid defect in men with obesity. Metabolism. 1993;42:116-120. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
40. Mendoza SG, Zerpa A, Carrasco H, Colmenares O, Rangel A, Gartside PS, Kashyap ML. Estradiol, testosterone, apolipoproteins, lipoprotein cholesterol, and lipolytic enzymes in men with premature myocardial infarction and angiographically assessed coronary occlusion. Artery. 1983;12:1-23. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
41.
Dai WS, Kuller LH, LaPorte RE, Gutai JP, Falvo Gerard
L, Caggiula A. The epidemiology of
plasma testosterone levels in middle-aged men. Am J
Epidemiol. 1981;114:804-816.
42.
Tenover JS, Matsumoto AM, Plymate SR, Bremner
WJ. The effects of aging in normal men on bioavailable
testosterone and luteinizing hormone secretion: response to clomiphene
citrate. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1987;65:1118-1126.
43.
Bremner WJ, Vitiello MV, Prinz PN. Loss of
circadian rhythmicity in blood testosterone levels with aging in normal
men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1983;56:1278-1281.
44.
Nankin HR, Calkins JH. Decreased bioavailable
testosterone in aging normal and impotent men. J
Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1986;63:1418-1420.
45.
Harman SM, Tsitouras PD. Reproductive
hormones in aging men, I: measurement of sex steroids, basal
luteinizing hormone, and Leydig cell response to human chorionic
gonadotropin. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1980;51:35-40.
46. Appleyard M. The Copenhagen City Heart Study: Østerbrounders¢gelsen. Scand J Soc Med. 1987;suppl 41:92-93.
47.
Spratt DI, O'Dea LS, Schoenfeld D, Butler J, Rao PN,
Crowley WF Jr. Neuroendocrine-gonadal axis in men: frequent
sampling of LH, FSH, and testosterone. Am J Physiol. 1988;254:E658-E666.
48.
Lacerda L, Kowarski A, Johanson AJ, Athanasiou R,
Migeon CJ. Integrated concentration and circadian variation of
plasma testosterone in normal men. J Clin
Endocrinol Metab. 1973;37:366-371.
49. de la Torre B, Sjoberg B, Hedman M, Bartfai G, Diczfalusy E. A study of the short-time variation and interrelationship of plasma hormone levels reflecting pituitary, adrenocortical and testicular function in fertile men. Int J Androl. 1981;4:532-545. [Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
50.
Plymate SR, Tenover JS, Bremner WJ. Circadian
variation in testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, and
calculated non-sex hormone-binding globulin bound testosterone
in healthy young and elderly men. J
Androl. 1989;10:366-371.
51.
Deslypere JP, Vermeulen A. Leydig cell function
in normal men: effect of age, life-style, residence, diet, and
activity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1984;59:955-962.
52.
Reinberg A, Lagoguey M, Chauffournier JM, Cesselin
F. Circannual and circadian rhythms in plasma testosterone in
five healthy young Parisian males. Acta Endocrinol
Copenh. 1975;80:732-743.
53.
Smals AG, Kloppenborg PW, Benraad TJ. Circannual
cycle in plasma testosterone levels in man. J
Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1976;42:979-982.
54. Winters SJ, Sherins RJ, Troen P. The gonadotropic suppressive activity of androgens is increased in elderly men. Metabolism. 1984;33:1052-1059.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
K. Vagnerova, I. P. Koerner, and P. D. Hurn Gender and the Injured Brain Anesth. Analg., July 1, 2008; 107(1): 201 - 214. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. B. Araujo, V. Kupelian, S. T. Page, D. J. Handelsman, W. J. Bremner, and J. B. McKinlay Sex Steroids and All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in Men Arch Intern Med, June 25, 2007; 167(12): 1252 - 1260. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
R. D. Abbott, L. J. Launer, B. L. Rodriguez, G. W. Ross, P.W.F. Wilson, K. H. Masaki, D. Strozyk, J. D. Curb, K. Yano, J. S. Popper, et al. Serum estradiol and risk of stroke in elderly men Neurology, February 20, 2007; 68(8): 563 - 568. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. C. Bowers, Y. Liu, W. Leisenring, E. McNeil, M. Stovall, J. G. Gurney, L. L. Robison, R. J. Packer, and K. C. Oeffinger Late-Occurring Stroke Among Long-Term Survivors of Childhood Leukemia and Brain Tumors: A Report From the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study J. Clin. Oncol., November 20, 2006; 24(33): 5277 - 5282. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. M. Shores, A. M. Matsumoto, K. L. Sloan, and D. R. Kivlahan Low Serum Testosterone and Mortality in Male Veterans. Arch Intern Med, August 14, 2006; 166(15): 1660 - 1665. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. Makinen, M. J. Jarvisalo, P. Pollanen, A. Perheentupa, K. Irjala, M. Koskenvuo, J. Makinen, I. Huhtaniemi, and O. T. Raitakari Increased Carotid Atherosclerosis in Andropausal Middle-Aged Men J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., May 17, 2005; 45(10): 1603 - 1608. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A.A.L. Ajayi and P.V. Halushka Castration reduces platelet thromboxane A2 receptor density and aggregability QJM, May 1, 2005; 98(5): 349 - 356. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
P. Y. Liu, A. K. Death, and D. J. Handelsman Androgens and Cardiovascular Disease Endocr. Rev., June 1, 2003; 24(3): 313 - 340. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. Fukui, Y. Kitagawa, N. Nakamura, M. Kadono, S. Mogami, C. Hirata, N. Ichio, K. Wada, G. Hasegawa, and T. Yoshikawa Association Between Serum Testosterone Concentration and Carotid Atherosclerosis in Men With Type 2 Diabetes Diabetes Care, June 1, 2003; 26(6): 1869 - 1873. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
P. T. Ellison, R. G. Bribiescas, G. R. Bentley, B. C. Campbell, S. F. Lipson, C. Panter-Brick, and K. Hill Population variation in age-related decline in male salivary testosterone Hum. Reprod., December 1, 2002; 17(12): 3251 - 3253. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. M. Matsumoto Andropause: Clinical Implications of the Decline in Serum Testosterone Levels With Aging in Men J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., February 1, 2002; 57(2): M76 - 99. [Full Text] |
||||
![]() |
S.-H. Yang, E. Perez, J. Cutright, R. Liu, Z. He, A. L. Day, and J. W. Simpkins Testosterone increases neurotoxicity of glutamate in vitro and ischemia-reperfusion injury in an animal model J Appl Physiol, January 1, 2002; 92(1): 195 - 201. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
G. G. Geary, D. N. Krause, and S. P. Duckles Gonadal hormones affect diameter of male rat cerebral arteries through endothelium-dependent mechanisms Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, August 1, 2000; 279(2): H610 - H618. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
G.M.C. Rosano Androgens and coronary artery disease. A sex-specific effect of sex hormones? Eur. Heart J., June 1, 2000; 21(11): 868 - 871. [PDF] |
||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
ATVB Home | Subscriptions | Archives | Feedback | Authors | Help | AHA Journals Home | Search Copyright © 1996 American Heart Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited. |