Increased occurrence of marked elevations of lipoprotein(a) in ageing, hypercholesterolaemic men with low testosterone.

OBJECTIVE

We previously examined the inverse relationship between total serum testosterone (T) and the occurrence of the metabolic syndrome in ageing men using baseline data from two lipid treatment studies. We further examined baseline data from a subset of US men participating in one of these two studies to assess the relationship between T and the cardiovascular risk factor lipid, lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)].

METHODS

Baseline T, lipid, glycaemic and anthropometric data were obtained from 107 men (mean age: 55 years). Inclusion criteria included low-density lipoprotein cholesterol > or = 3.4-4.9 mmol/l and triglycerides < or = 4.0 mmol/l. Baseline Lp(a) levels were examined across the following baseline T subgroups: <15 nmol/l (low/low-normal T) and > or = 15 nmol/l (normal T).

RESULTS

There was an overall trend for a higher incidence of clinically significant Lp(a) elevations in men with low T; 17.1% of men in the low/low-normal T subgroup had an Lp(a) level > or = 3 times the upper limit of normal compared to 8.1% in the normal T subgroup.

CONCLUSIONS

The data from this descriptive analysis suggest that ageing men with low serum T levels may have an increase in marked elevations in Lp(a), which would be expected to be associated with a significant increase in their cardiovascular event risk.