OBESITY, BODY-FAT DISTRIBUTION AND SEX-HORMONES IN MEN

An unfavourable body fat distribution may cause metabolic abnormalitie s including diabetes and dyslipidemia. These effects may be mediated b y alterations in sex hormones. In women the available data suggest tha t upper body adiposity is related to increased androgenicity (especial ly as indicated by low concentrations of sex hormone binding globulin) . Few data, however, are available on these relationships in men. We t herefore examined the association of total testosterone, free testoste rone, oestradiol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-SO4) and sex h ormone binding globulin (SHBG) to waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and conicit y index in 178 men from the San Antonio Heart Study, a population-base d study of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The conicity index is equal to the abdominal circumference divided by 0.109 x the square roo t of (weight/ height). The conicity index and WHR were significantly i nversely related to DHEA-SO4 and free testosterone. SHBG was only weak ly associated with body mass index (r= -0.18, P< 0.05). After adjustme nt for age and body mass index, DHEA-SO, remained inversely correlated with WHR (r = -0.22, P < 0.01) and conicity index (r = -0.31, P < 0.0 01) and free testosterone remained inversely associated with conicity index (r = -0.21, P < 0.01). Thus, in men, the association between unf avourable body fat distribution and increased androgenicity is inverse in contrast to the situation in women.