Vikan T, Johnsen S H, Schirmer H, Njølstad I, Svartberg J
Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway.
Eur J Epidemiol. 2009;24(6):289-95. doi: 10.1007/s10654-009-9322-2. Epub 2009 Mar 5.
The role of testosterone in the development of cardiovascular disease is controversial. Recent observational studies, however, suggest a protective role of normal endogenous testosterone levels in the development of atherosclerosis. In a cohort from the Tromsø study, 1,101 men had both hormone-levels measured and the right carotid artery examined by ultrasound in 1994 and 2001. We studied the prospective association between sex hormone-levels and progression of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque area from 1994 to 2001. We also performed a cross-sectional study of 2,290 men from the population in 2001. The data were analysed by univariate correlations, analyses of covariance and multiple linear regression analyses. In the cross-sectional study, we found an inverse association between testosterone levels and total carotid plaque area (P < 0.05), after adjusting for age, systolic blood pressure, smoking and use of lipid-lowering drugs. We found no prospective associations between sex hormone-levels and change in plaque area or IMT from 1994 to 2001. The lack of prospective associations in our study may be due to increased use of anti-hypertensive and lipid-lowering drugs from 1994 baseline to follow-up.
睾酮在心血管疾病发展过程中的作用存在争议。然而，最近的观察性研究表明，正常内源性睾酮水平在动脉粥样硬化发展过程中具有保护作用。在特罗姆瑟研究的一个队列中，1101名男性在1994年和2001年接受了激素水平测量以及右侧颈动脉的超声检查。我们研究了1994年至2001年期间性激素水平与颈动脉内膜中层厚度（IMT）进展和斑块面积之间的前瞻性关联。我们还在2001年对该人群中的2290名男性进行了横断面研究。数据通过单变量相关性分析、协方差分析和多元线性回归分析进行分析。在横断面研究中，在调整了年龄、收缩压、吸烟和降脂药物使用情况后，我们发现睾酮水平与总颈动脉斑块面积之间存在负相关（P < 0.05）。我们未发现1994年至2001年期间性激素水平与斑块面积或IMT变化之间存在前瞻性关联。我们研究中缺乏前瞻性关联可能是由于从1994年基线到随访期间抗高血压和降脂药物的使用增加所致。
