Study of plasma hormones and lipids in healthy elderly Thais compared to patients with chronic diseases: diabetes mellitus, essential hypertension and coronary heart disease

Abstract

Simultaneous measurements of serum estradiol, testosterone, cortisol, prolactin, total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) and triglycerides in Thai men and postmenopausal women aged over 50 years were carried out in four groups of subjects: healthy controls, and patients with essential hypertension, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), and coronary heart disease. Hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia were found more often in patients with essential hypertension than in patients with other diseases. Low levels of HDLC with high TC/HDLC and LDLC/HDLC ratios occurred more frequently in coronary heart disease patients. Hypertensive men had the highest plasma estradiol levels while men with coronary heart disease had the least testosterone levels compared with men with the other two diseases. Decreased testosterone and/or increased estradiol may have an adverse effect on lipid profiles in elderly men. However, neither the sex hormones, cortisol, nor prolactin, appeared to have any influence on serum lipids and lipoproteins in elderly women. These findings in the Thai population are consistent with those previously reported in other populations.