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Body fatness and sex steroid hormone concentrations in US men: results from NHANES III

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Abstract

Objective

Obesity is associated with a variety of chronic diseases, including cancer, which may partly be explained by its influence on sex steroid hormone concentrations. Whether different measures of obesity, i.e., body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and percent body fat were differentially associated with circulating levels of sex steroid hormones was examined in 1,265 men, aged 20–90+ years old, attending the morning examination session of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).

Materials and methods

Serum hormones were measured by immunoassay. Weight, height, and waist circumference were measured by trained staff. Percent body fat was estimated from bioelectrical impedance. Multivariate linear regression was used to estimate associations between body fatness measures and hormone levels.

Results

Total and free testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin concentrations decreased, whereas total and free estradiol increased with increasing BMI, waist circumference, and percent body fat (all p trend < 0.05). The magnitude of change in these hormones was similar for a one-quartile increase in each body fatness measure.

Conclusion

Measured BMI, waist circumference, and percent body fat led to similar inferences about their association with hormone levels in men.

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Acknowledgments

This is the eighth paper from the Hormone Demonstration Program funded by the Maryland Cigarette Restitution Fund at Johns Hopkins. Drs. Shiels, Lopez, and Joshu were supported by the National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award (T32 CA009314). We thank Gary Bradwin in Dr. Rifai’s laboratory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, 8001, Zürich, Switzerland

    Sabine Rohrmann

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Meredith S. Shiels, David S. Lopez, Eliseo Guallar, Andy Menke, Corinne E. Joshu, Manning Feinleib & Elizabeth A. Platz

  3. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Nader Rifai

  4. Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD, USA

    William G. Nelson, Norma Kanarek & Elizabeth A. Platz

  5. James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA

    William G. Nelson & Elizabeth A. Platz

  6. Departments of Oncology, Pathology, Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA

    William G. Nelson

  7. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    William G. Nelson & Norma Kanarek

  8. Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Eliseo Guallar & Andy Menke

  9. Department of Surgery and the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Siobhan Sutcliffe

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  1. Sabine Rohrmann
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  2. Meredith S. Shiels
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  3. David S. Lopez
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  4. Nader Rifai
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  5. William G. Nelson
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  7. Eliseo Guallar
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  8. Andy Menke
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  9. Corinne E. Joshu
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  10. Manning Feinleib
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  12. Elizabeth A. Platz
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Correspondence to Sabine Rohrmann.

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Rohrmann, S., Shiels, M.S., Lopez, D.S. et al. Body fatness and sex steroid hormone concentrations in US men: results from NHANES III. Cancer Causes Control 22, 1141–1151 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-011-9790-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-011-9790-z

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