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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Coronary Progenitor Cells and Soluble Biomarkers in Cardiovascular Prognosis after Coronary Angioplasty
Published on: January 28, 2020
Sex steroids and mortality in men referred for coronary angiography
1Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Nuclear Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. elisabeth.wehr@medunigraz.at
Objective:
Accumulating evidence suggests that sex steroids are associated with various chronic diseases. We aimed at evaluating whether total testosterone (TT), free testosterone (FT) and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) are associated with all-cause mortality and specific fatal events.
Design, Setting And Participants:
We measured TT and SHBG levels in 2078 men who were routinely referred for coronary angiography (1997-2000). FT was calculated according to Vermeulen.
Measurements:
The main outcome measures were Cox proportional hazard ratios (HRs) for mortality from all causes, from cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular causes and from cancer according to SHBG, FT and TT.
Results:
Multivariable-adjusted HRs (with 95% confidence intervals) in the fourth compared to the first SHBG quartile for all-cause, non-cardiovascular and cancer mortality were 1·61 (1·16-2·23), 2·44 (1·39-4·28), and 2·86 (1·03-7·32), respectively. There was no significant association of SHBG levels with cardiovascular mortality. All-cause mortality was significantly reduced per 1 SD increase in FT in the multivariate-adjusted analyses [0·49 (0·30-0·81)]. We observed no significant associations of FT with cardiovascular and cancer mortality, and TT levels were not independently related to any fatal events.
Conclusion:
High levels of SHBG are associated with adverse health outcomes in a large cohort of older men referred for coronary angiography. Further studies are warranted to confirm our results and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms for our findings.
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