Levels of serum reproductive hormones and metabolic syndrome in adult males

Objective To investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and its relationship with reproductive hormones in adult males in China. METHODS Using the cluster and stratified sampling methods, we conducted an investigation among 3 600 adult males aged over 20 years in Hebei, Shaanxi and Jiangsu provinces. We obtained their reproductive hormone levels, biochemical indicators and basic body indexes and compared them between the two groups of subjects. RESULTS A total of 3 332 valid serum samples were collected, which revealed a prevalence rate of MS of 38.5% in the adult males. Compared with the non-MS subjects, the MS males showed a significantly higher free testosterone index (FTI, 0.39 ± 0.15 vs 0.45 ± 0.19, P 0.05). Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that the levels of serum TT and SHBG were correlated with all the indicators of MS (P 0.05). After adjusted for the age, smoking, drinking, BMI and TT, the serum SHBG level was the main independent risk factor for MS (OR: 0.965, 95% CI: 0.958－0.973, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The level of serum cFT is not correlated with while that of SHBG is the main independent risk factor for metabolic syndrome in adult males in China.