Hypertension, dyslipidemia and overweight are related to lower testosterone levels in a cohort of men undergoing prostate biopsy.

Testosterone deficiency syndrome (TDS) is a clinical and biochemical entity related to sexual and cardiovascular health. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), dyslipidemia and overweight are four clinical factors strongly related to cardiovascular illnesses. The aim of our study was to determine if the presence and number of cardiovascular risk factors was related to total testosterone levels and the presence of biochemical TDS. We retrospectively analyzed 384 patients referred to our center for prostate biopsy between September 2007 and December 2009. Variables age, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), tobacco use, alcohol intake, hypertension, DM, dyslipidemia (hypercholesterolemia/hypertriglyceridemia) and overweight (BMI>25) were recorded prospectively. Hormonal profile was determined as part of our clinical protocol. We used 231 and 346 ng dl(-1) as total testosterone cut-points (8-12 nmol l(-1)) for diagnosis of biochemical TDS, following ISA-ISSAM-EAU Guidelines. We analyzed the relationship between testosterone levels and the presence of hypertension, DM, dyslipidemia and overweight, and with the number of these cardiovascular risk factors. Mean age was 66 ± 8 years. Prevalence of TDS was 6.5% within the 231 ng ml(-1) cutoff point and 28.4% for the 346 ng dl(-1) cutoff point. Levels of testosterone were related to hypertension (P=0.007), dyslipidemia (P=0.013), overweight (P=0.036) and the number of cardiovascular risk factors (P=0.018). The prevalence of TDS in our population is comparable to data from international studies. Testosterone levels decrease as the number of cardiovascular risk factors rise.