Interaction between total testosterone and estradiol during the menopausal transition as a predictor of risk of developing metabolic syndrome
Document Actions
This study aimed to test the hypothesis that change in the total testosterone-to-estradiol (T/E2) ratio during the menopausal transition, a state characterized by relative androgen excess as a result of an absolute decrease in the E2 denominator, would be associated with incident metabolic syndrome. To this end, a multi-ethnic cohort of 1862 premenopausal and perimenopausal women without diabetes participating in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation was studied. During the 5-year follow-up, the age-adjusted total T/E2 ratio increased by 10.1% per year, with neither baseline nor change in E2 being associated with incident metabolic syndrome. Low sex hormone-binding globulin, free androgen index, and high total T at baseline all increased the risk of metabolic syndrome although their change over time did not. Independent of ethnicity, both baseline total T/E2 ratio and its rate of change were associated with increased incident metabolic syndrome. The interaction between T and E2 during the menopausal transition, rather than the individual change of each over time, predicts risk of incident metabolic syndrome during the menopausal transition.
Abstract
