Introduction:
When acute systemic illness occurs due to stress, dysfunction of some of the endocrine axes often occurs. However, the specific mechanisms have not been elucidated. Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is one model of acute physiological stress in which the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is also affected.
Aim:
The aim of this study was to investigate the difference in total testosterone (T) levels in men with ACS compared to controls.
Results:
In 72 patients with ACS, the level of total testosterone was studied until the 48th hour after its onset. Thirty-five controls were also included in the study. After statistical processing of the data, we found that total T in the ACS group was statistically significantly lower compared to the controls group (t = -3.20, p = 0.001) There was also a statistically significant difference in the incidence of hypotestosteronemia between the two groups with 52.8% (n = 38) in the ACS group and 28.6% (n = 10) in the control group. (χ2(1) = 4.705, p = .030).
Conclusion:
Low levels of total T are common in patients with ACS. However, T values in the acute period after the onset of ACS should be interpreted with caution because of the changes occurring in the regulation of gonadal function.
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