Impacts of low-grade inflammation on the correlation of serum testosterone and carotid intima-media thickness in type 2 diabetes mellitus men / 中国医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the impacts of low-grade inflammation on the correlation of serum testosterone (T) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) men.Methods Based on the concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP) and T,a total of 247 patients was divided into low-grade inflammation with low T group (LI-LT,CRP ≥ 2.0 mg/L,T ＜ 12.0 nmol/L,n =65),low-grade inflammation with normal T group (LI-NT,n =67),non-low-grade inflammation with low T group (NLI-LT,n =56),and non-low-grade inflammation with normal T group (NLI-NT,n =59).General information,medical history,and anthropometry data were collected.Glycosylated hemoglobin AI c (HbA1c),blood fat,and CIMT were detected.Results Compared to NLI-NT group,CIMT in NLI-LT group was increased without statistical significance [(0.87 ±0.09) vs (0.90 ±0.10)mm,t =1.693,P =0.090].CIMT in LI-LT group was increased significantly compared to that of LI-NT group [(0.99 ± 0.10) vs (1.07 ±0.12)mm,t =5.208,P =0.000].Correlation analysis indicated that serum T correlated negatively with CIMT (n =247,r =-0.368,P ＜0.01) in whole.The correlation coefficient of T and CIMT was-0.582 (P =0.000),and-0.098 (P =0.087) in patients with (n =132) and without (n =115) low-grade inflammation,respectively.To make CIMT dependent coefficient and serum T independent coefficient in multiple regression analysis,the partial regression coefficient was-0.062 (95％ CI-0.094 ～-0.029,P =0.008),and-0.045 (95％ CI-0.087 ～-0.002,P =0.036),respectively,before and after the adjustment of age,smoking,family history,T2DM course,body mass,blood pressure,HbAlc,and blood fat.After the additional adjustment of CRP,the partial regression coefficient was-0.019 (95％ CI-0.120 ～ 0.042,P =0.287).Conclusions The negative relationship between serum T and CIMT in T2DM men might be modulated by low-grade inflammation.