RESEARCH ARTICLE
Testosterone and Cardiovascular Disease
Amos Tambo1, *, Mohsin H.K. Roshan1, Nikolai P. Pace2
1 Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta- Msida, Malta
2 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Biomedical Sciences Building, Msida, Malta
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2016Volume: 10
First Page: 1
Last Page: 10
Publisher ID: TOCMJ-10-1
DOI: 10.2174/1874192401610010001
Article History:
Received Date: 22/8/2015Revision Received Date: 20/9/2015
Acceptance Date: 22/10/2015
Electronic publication date: 15/1/2016
Collection year: 2016
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode), which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Cardiovascular disease [CVD] is a leading cause of mortality accounting for a global incidence of over 31%. Atherosclerosis is the primary pathophysiology underpinning most types of CVD. Historically, modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors were suggested to precipitate CVD. Recently, epidemiological studies have identified emerging risk factors including hypotestosteronaemia, which have been associated with CVD. Previously considered in the realms of reproductive biology, testosterone is now believed to play a critical role in the cardiovascular system in health and disease. The actions of testosterone as they relate to the cardiac vasculature and its implication in cardiovascular pathology is reviewed.
Keywords: Atherosclerosis, Cardiovascular disease, Hypogonadism, Testosterone, Vascular biology.
