Nine hundred and twenty-one elderly subjects with data on SHBG, testosterone (T), estradiol (E2) were selected from InCHIANTI study. PAD was defined as an Ankle-Brachial Index (ABI)?<?0.90. Logistic regression models adjusted for age (Model 1), age, BMI, insulin, interleukin-6, physical activity, smoking, chronic diseases including metabolic syndrome (Model 2), and a final model including also sex hormones (Model 3) were performed to test the relationship between SHBG, sex hormones and PAD.
The mean age (¡ÀSD) of the 419 men and 502 women was 75.0?¡À?6.8 years. Sixty two participants (41 men, 21 women) had ABI?<?0.90. Men with PAD had SHBG levels lower than men without PAD (p?=?0.03). SHBG was negatively and independently associated with PAD in men (p?=?0.028) but not in women. The relationship was however attenuated after adjusting for sex hormones (p?=?0.07). The E2 was not significantly associated with PAD in both men and women. In women, but not in men, T was positively associated with PAD, even after adjusting for multiple confounders, including E2 (p?=?0.01).
Low SHBG and high T levels are significantly and independently associated with the presence of PAD in older men and women, respectively.