Hypotestosteronemia is frequent in ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients and is associated with coronary microvascular obstruction

Background Gonadal function is thought to be involved in existing atherosclerotic plaques stabilization and might affect reperfusion after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI). We aimed to compare the prevalence of hypotestosteromenia between ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and stable angina (SA) patients and between patients with and without microvascular obstruction (MVO). Design Cross-sectional observational study. Methods Males with STEMI (n = 70, age 57.1 ± 7.8 years) or with stable angina (n = 30, age 59.9 ± 8.4 years) were enrolled. Angiographic MVO (angio-MVO) was defined as final TIMI flow 2 or final TIMI flow 3 with MBG ≤ 2 while electrocardiographic MVO (ECG-MVO) as a ST-segment resolution <70% at 90 minutes post-pPCI. Variables associated with STEMI and MVO were assessed among clinical, angiographic and laboratory data including testosterone (T) and insulin-like factor 3 (INSL-3), a marker of Leydig cells function. Hypotestosteronemia was defined as T < 2.50 ng/ml with INSL-3 < 305.5 pg/ml. Results Hypotestosteronemia was detected in 32 (45.7%) STEMI patients and in 4 (13.3%) SA patients (p = 0.003). STEMI patients presenting with angio-MVO were more frequently hypotestosteronemic as compared with those without (60.9% vs 38.3%, p = 0.043). Hypotestosteronemia prevalence was higher among STEMI patients presenting with ECG-MVO as compared with those without (69.0% vs 31.7%, p = 0.003). At multivariate analysis hypotestosteronemia independently predicted both angio-MVO (OR = 4.47, 95% CI 1.30–15.36, p = 0.018) and ECG-MVO (OR = 7.56, 95% CI 2.20–25.99, p = 0.001). Conclusions Our study shows higher prevelence of hypotestosteronemia among STEMI patients as compared with SA patients and among STEMI patients with MVO as compared with those without, thus suggesting a possible role of T deficiency in coronary instability and MVO pathogenesis.