Sex hormones and DHEA-SO4 in relation to ischemic heart disease mortality in diabetic subjects. The Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy.

OBJECTIVE

Sex hormones are associated with atherogenic changes in lipoproteins and changes in glucose and insulin metabolism, yet few data are available on the relationship of sex hormones and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-SO4) to ischemic heart disease (IHD) in diabetic subjects, a group with very high levels of IHD.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We examined the relation of total and free testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin, estrone, estradiol, and DHEA-SO4 to the 5-year IHD mortality in the older-onset diabetic subjects in the Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy (WESDR) in a matched diabetic subject-control design (two control subjects for every diabetic subject).

RESULTS

In men (n = 123), none of the sex hormones or DHEA-SO4 significantly predicted IHD mortality. In women (n = 120), lower levels of DHEA-SO4 (P < 0.01) and total testosterone (P = 0.07) predicted IHD mortality. These results were essentially unchanged after adjustment for duration of diabetes, GHb, diuretic use, and serum creatinine, which are major predictors of IHD mortality in the WESDR. Finding lower testosterone levels in diabetic subjects of IHD in women is contrary to data on risk factors, which suggests that increased androgen activity may be associated with worse IHD risk factors.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that alterations in sex hormones and DHEA-SO4 are unlikely to explain a major proportion of the variation in IHD mortality in diabetic subjects.