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Carotid atheromatic plaque is commonly associated with hypopituitary men

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Abstract

Hypopituitarism increases the risks of many cardiovascular conditions and therefore, patients with this disease are more prone to cardiovascular disease. To our knowledge, there have been few studies on carotid artery plaque in male patients with hypopituitarism in assessing cardiovascular risks. The aim of this study was to specifically compare carotid artery plaque while examining other major cardiovascular risk factors between male patients with hypopituitarism and control subjects. Forty male patients aged 30–70 years with hypopituitarism and forty age, sex- matched control subjects were recruited at the Yonsei University Severance Hospital, Seoul, Korea. Carotid intima media thickness (IMT) and atheromatous plaque, anthropometry, lipid profile, and pituitary hormones were assessed. Atheromatous plaque in the carotid arteries was observed more frequently in patients with hypopituitarism than age- and sex-matched control subjects (59.5% vs. 2.5%, P < 0.01) without differences of carotid IMTs. Patients with hypopituitarism also exhibited higher waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol than control subjects. In subgroup analysis in male patients with hypopituitarism including GH deficiency, lower testosterone levels were associated with higher waist circumference (r = 0.446, P = 0.033). In conclusion, hypopituitary males exhibit an increased incidence of carotid artery plaque without differences of carotid IMTs, central obesity and higher total cholesterol level. Lower testosterone levels were associated with central obesity- a strong component of a metabolic syndrome, and unsubstituted testosterone deficiency might be an important cardiovascular risk factor in patients with hypopituitarism.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank our clinical research associate, Hyeon Jeong Kim, for her thoughtful assistance in data collection and management of this study. We also thank So-Hyun Lee for the preparing manuscript. This study was supported by a grant from the Korea Healthcare Technology R&D Project, Ministry for Health, Welfare & Family Affairs, Republic of Korea (No. A085136).

Conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Endocrinology, Internal Medicine, Institute of Endocrine Research, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 250 Seongsanno Seodaemun-Gu, 120-752, Seoul, Korea

    Joo Young Kim, Jae Won Hong & Eun Jig Lee

  2. Endocrinology and Metabolism, Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Gyeonggi, Korea

    Sang Youl Rhee

  3. Endocrinology, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang, Korea

    Chul Sik Kim

  4. Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea

    Dae Jung Kim

  5. Endocrinology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Eun Jig Lee

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  1. Joo Young Kim
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  2. Jae Won Hong
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  3. Sang Youl Rhee
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  4. Chul Sik Kim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eun Jig Lee.

Additional information

J. W. Hong and J. Y. Kim contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-first authors.

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Kim, J.Y., Hong, J.W., Rhee, S.Y. et al. Carotid atheromatic plaque is commonly associated with hypopituitary men. Pituitary 14, 105–111 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11102-010-0265-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11102-010-0265-0

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