Testosterone and acute stress are associated with fibrinogen and Von Willebrand factor in African men: the SABPA study
Date
2013Author
Malan, Nicolaas T.
Schutte, Alta E.
Huisman, Hugo W.
Schutte, Rudolph
Smith, Wayne
Mels, Carina M.
Kruger, Ruan
Meiring, Muriel
Van Rooyen, Johannes M.
Malan, Leoné
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Show full item recordAbstract
Background: Low testosterone, acute and chronic stress and hypercoagulation are all associated with hypertension
and hypertension-related diseases. The interaction between these factors and future risk for coronary artery
disease in Africans has not been fully elucidated. In this study, associations of testosterone, acute cardiovascular
and coagulation stress responses with fibrinogen and von Willebrand factor in African and Caucasian men in a
South African cohort were investigated.
Methods: Cardiovascular variables were studied by means of beat-to-beat and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.
Fasting serum-, salivary testosterone and citrate coagulation markers were obtained from venous blood
samples. Acute mental stress responses were evoked with the Stroop test.
Results: The African group demonstrated a higher cardiovascular risk compared to Caucasian men with elevated
blood pressure, low-grade inflammation, chronic hyperglycemia (HbA1c), lower testosterone levels, and elevated
von Willebrand factor (VWF) and fibrinogen levels. Blunted testosterone acute mental stress responses were
demonstrated in African males. In multiple regression analyses, higher circulating levels of fibrinogen and VWF
in Africans were associated with a low T environment (R2 0.24–0.28; p ≤ 0.01), but only circulating fibrinogen
in Caucasians. Regarding endothelial function, a low testosterone environment and a profile of augmented
α-adrenergic acute mental stress responses (diastolic BP, D-dimer and testosterone) were associated with
circulating VWF levels in Africans (Adj R2 0.24; p b 0.05).
Conclusions: An interdependence between acute mental stress, salivary testosterone, D-dimer and vascular
responses existed in African males in their association with circulating VWF but no interdependence of the
independent variables occurred with fibrinogen levels.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/14063https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167527313014162
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2013.07.191
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- Faculty of Health Sciences [2376]