Longitudinal changes in plasma sex hormone concentrations correlate with changes in CT-measured regional adiposity among Japanese American men over 10 years.

Dinh, Kathryn T; Amory, John K; Matsumoto, Alvin M; Marck, Brett T; Fujimoto, Wilfred Y; Leonetti, Donna L; Boyko, Edward J; Page, Stephanie T; Rubinow, Katya B

OBJECTIVE Aging in male adults is typically accompanied by adiposity accumulation and changes in circulating sex hormone concentrations. We hypothesized that an aging-associated increase in estrogens and decrease in androgens would correlate with an increase in adiposity. DESIGN 10-year prospective, observational study STUDY SUBJECTS: 190, community-dwelling men in the Japanese American Community Diabetes Study MEASUREMENTS: At 0 and 10 years, CT scanning quantified intraabdominal fat (IAF) and subcutaneous fat (SCF) areas while plasma concentrations of estradiol, estrone, testosterone, and dihydrotestosterone were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem-mass spectrometry at each timepoint. Multivariate linear regression analyses assessed correlations between 10-year changes in hormone concentrations and IAF or SCF, adjusting for age and baseline fat depot area. RESULTS Participants were middle-aged [median 54.8 years, interquartile range (IQR) 39.9-62.8] men and mostly overweight by Asian criterion (median BMI 24.9, IQR 23.3-27.1) and with few exceptions had normal sex steroid concentrations. Median estradiol and dihydrotestosterone did not change significantly between 0 and 10 years (p=0.084 and p=0.596 respectively) while median estrone increased (p<0.001) and testosterone decreased (p<0.001). Median IAF and SCF increased from 0 to 10 years (both p<0.001). In multivariate analyses, change in estrone positively correlated (p=0.019) while change in testosterone (p=0.003) and dihydrotestosterone (p=0.014) negatively correlated with change in IAF. Plasma estradiol and estrone positively correlated with change in SCF (p=0.041 and p=0.030, respectively) while testosterone (p=0.031) negatively correlated in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION Among 190 community-dwelling, Japanese-American men, increases in IAF were associated with decreases in plasma androgens and increases in plasma estrone, but not estradiol, at 10 years. Further research is necessary to understand if changing hormone concentrations are causally related to changes in regional adiposity or if the reverse is true.