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Abstract
Aim. To investigate sex hormone and androgen receptor (AR) levels and to evaluate their relationship with diabetes mellitus (DM) in senile men.
Methods. The cross-sectional study included 492 elderly men comprising 104 healthy subjects (mean age 71.4 ± 5.2 years), 259 subjects without DM (71.5 ± 5.0 years) and 129 DM patients (73.0 ± 6.3 years). Plasma concentrations of total testosterone (TT), free testosterone (FT), dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), estradiol (E2), luteinising hormone) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) were determined. AR-positive cells were measured by flow cytometry.
Results. TT concentrations were significantly lower in the DM group (13.8 ± 4.7 nmol/l) than in the healthy (17.1 ± 6.1 nmol/l) and non-diabetes groups (15.8 ± 6.0 nmol/l; all P < 0.01). FT, SHBG, AR-positive proportion (AR%) and AR fluorescence intensity showed a decreasing trend among the healthy, non-DM and DM groups, but the differences were not significant. TT, E2, E2/testosterone and SHBG were negatively correlated with blood glucose. SHBG was positively correlated and TT and AR% were negatively correlated with the course of DM. Logistic multiple regression analysis revealed that age, waist/hip ratio, FSH, SHBG and AR% are potential risk factors for DM.
Conclusions. Low levels of TT, SHBG and AR may be potential risk factors for DM in elderly men.
Declaration of interest:
This work was supported by the Healthcare Fund 06AM369, 01AM301 (to W. Hao, J. Cao and X. Li). All authors had full access to the data and take responsibility for their integrity. All authors agree with the manuscript as written. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.