(03-04-16) Serum testosterone but not leptin predicts mortality in elderly men

1. Aapo Lehtonen1,
2. Risto Huupponen2,*,
3. Jaakko Tuomilehto3,
4. Sirkku Lavonius1,
5. Seija Arve1,
6. Hannu Isoaho4,
7. Ilpo Huhtaniemi5 and
8. Reijo Tilvis6
+ Author Affiliations
1. 1 Department of Geriatrics, Turku City Hospital, and University of Turku, 20 701 Turku, Finland
2. 2 Department of Pharmacology, Drug Development and Therapeutics, University of Turku, and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, TYKSLAB, Health Care District of Southwest Finland, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4B, 20 014 Turun yliopisto, Finland
3. 3 Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, 00 014 Helsingin yliopisto, Finland, and South Ostrobothnia Central Hospital, Seinäjoki, Finland
4. 4 Statcom Ltd, Salo, Finland
5. 5 Department of Physiology, University of Turku, Kiinamyllynkatu 10, 20 014 Turun yliopisto, Finland
6. 6 Department of Geriatrics, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsingin yliopisto, Finland
1. * To whom correspondence should be addressed E-mail: [email protected]
SIR—In men ageing is associated with a gradual progressive decline of total serum testosterone concentration [1–5]. A substantial proportion of older men, ranging from 20% in 60 years old to 50% in 80 years old, have testosterone concentrations below the normal range of younger men [4]. Low testosterone associates with occurrence of various cardiovascular risk factors [6, 7], and most epidemiological studies suggest that association of testosterone with coronary artery disease is either favourable or neutral [8]. Some studies have suggested that leptin is also an independent predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality [9–11], but this association has not been seen in all studies [12]. After adjustment for age, concentration of testosterone in serum is inversely correlated with intima-media thickness of the carotid artery, whereas no such association is seen between serum leptin and carotid artery thickness [12]. Thus, endogenous testosterone may have a protective role in the development of atherosclerosis in ageing men, but information on associations between testosterone and mortality or coronary heart disease is lacking.
We performed a longitudinal 10-year study to clarify the association of endogenous testosterone and leptin with all-cause mortality in ageing men. The results suggest an association between low endogenous testosterone concentration and mortality in elderly men.
Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18339618
http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/37/4/461.full

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