Lack of association between plasma lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase concentration and plasma sex hormone concentrations in men.

Plasma lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) concentration has been shown to be higher in women than in men, suggesting that sex hormones may influence LCAT metabolism. In order to explore this possibility, the associations of plasma LCAT concentration with the concentrations of total, free and protein-bound testosterone, 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone and oestradiol in plasma, and with total androstenedione concentration in plasma, were examined in 88 men aged 52-67 yr. Total cortisol in plasma was also assayed. No statistically significant correlations were observed between LCAT and androgen or oestrogen concentrations, but a weak positive association was observed between LCAT and plasma cortisol concentration (r = +0.227, p less than 0.05).