Role of Endogenous Estrogen on the Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease in Men

Estrogens protect the vascular system in women, but its effect in men is unclear. We evaluated the impact of estrogen on the male cardiovascular system. Of 140 Chinese males, 55 (aged 61.2 +/- 3.5) were cases and 60 (aged 59.5 +/- 4.6) were controls. Compared with the control group, only serum estradiol ([E2]; P < .01) levels but not testosterone ([T]; P = .21) were significantly lower in the cases. Linear and multiple regression analysis showed that serum T was positively associated with triglycerides ([TG]; r = .439, P < .01) and D-dimer (r = .258, P < .05) but negatively associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels (r = -.267, P < .05) and C-reactive protein (CRP; r = -.214, P < .05). Estradiol was highly associated with TG (r = .783, P < .01) and HDL-C (r = .515, P < .01) but was negatively related with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C; P < .05), total cholesterol/HDL-C (P < .05), CRP (P < .01), and D-dimer (P < .01). In conclusion, serum E2 and T levels affect coronary heart disease risk factors in males.