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Journal Article 2006; 27(6): 758-762 PubMed PMID: 17186999 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Age Factors, Androstenedione:blood, Atherosclerosis:blood, Blood Glucose:analysis, Cholesterol:blood, Coronary Disease:blood, Estrogens:blood, Female, Gonadal Steroid Hormones:blood, Humans, Incidence, Lipoproteins, HDL:blood, Lipoproteins, LDL:blo.   

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between the incidence of coronary heart diseases in premenopausal women and plasma level of total and free testosterone, estrogen, androstenedione and sex hormone binding globulin with coronary risk factors: fasting plasma concentration of glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol, high and low density lipoproteins.

METHODS: The study was conducted in Faculty of Medicine, Jordanian University of Science/Irbid Jordan and Technology and department of cardiology in Queen Alia Heart Institute/Amman Jordan during the period from April 2003 to March 2004. Serum sex hormones levels were measured in fifty-three premenopausal women; 25 women with coronary heart disease who had hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus and 28 women without coronary heart disease. Ages ranged from 34 to 48 years. Blood samples were collected just before performing coronary angiography and serum was obtained and frozen at -70 degrees C until use.

RESULTS: We found that the mean triglyceride, fasting blood sugar total cholesterol, and low density lipoprotein concentration were significantly higher in coronary heart disease patients than in patients with normal coronaries. We also found that the low levels of sex hormone binding globulin and high levels of free testosterone are associated with development of coronary heart disease. No significant correlation could be established between other plasma sex hormones level and coronary heart disease.

CONCLUSION: In young women, in the presence of coronary risk factors and normal level of serum estrogen, the high levels of serum free testosterone and low levels of serum sex hormone binding globulin are associated with development of atherosclerosis and increased incidence of coronary heart disease....

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Clinical Trial 2004; 25(4): 262-266 PubMed PMID: 15361814 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Biomarkers:blood, Blood Pressure, C-Reactive Protein:analysis, Coronary Disease:blood, Female, Homocysteine:blood, Humans, Hyperlipidemias:blood, Hypothyroidism:blood, Middle Aged, Reference Values, Risk Factors, Severity of Illness Index, Statisti.   

OBJECTIVES: Overt hypothyroidism (OH) is associated with premature atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease (CHD). Recently, C-reactive protein (CRP) and total homocysteine (tHct) emerged as additional independent cardiovascular risk factors. Subclinical hypothyroidism (SH), affecting as many as 15% of middle-aged women is not known to be associated with risk for CHD.

DESIGN AND MEASUREMENTS: We measured CRP and tHct levels as well as conventional cardiovascular risk markers in 44 middle-aged women with newly diagnose SH. Results were compared with those obtained in 10 patients with OH and 19 euthyroid controls.

RESULTS: In SH, tHct and CRP levels were not as augmented as compared to controls. Their mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure values were increased vs. controls (p<0.04;p<0.01, respectively). Mean values of total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), triglycerides, TC/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C were not different in patients with SH compared to controls. Individual analysis revealed that the percentage of patients with SH having hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, elevated TC/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C ratios were higher than the percentage in controls. CRP positively correlated with BMI(r=0.29,p<0.02), and tHct positively correlated with age (r=0.24, p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that subclinical hypothyroidism in middle-aged women is associated with hypertension and dyslipidemia. CRP and tHct do not appear to contribute to the increased risk for CHD in these patients....

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