Table 2.
Comparison of cardiometabolic parameters among firefighters within different categories of serum total testosterone levels.
| Low TT (< 264 ng/dL) n = 32 |
Borderline TT (264–399 ng/dL) n = 83 |
Reference range TT (400–916 ng/dL) n = 183 |
p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serum total testosterone (ng/dL) | 210.6 ± 51.6a,b | 330.0 ± 40.7a | 550.6 ± 124.0 | < 0.01 |
| Age (years) | 42.5 ± 9.3a | 37.9 ± 10.7 | 36.6 ± 9.9 | 0.01 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 32.4 ± 5.4a,b | 29.7 ± 4.1a | 28.0 ± 4.1 | < 0.01 |
| Systolic BP (mmHg) | 125.6 ± 6.5a | 122.9 ± 8.2a | 120.0 ± 7.0 | < 0.01 |
| Diastolic BP (mmHg) | 79.2 ± 4.0a | 77.9 ± 5.5 | 76.5 ± 5.6 | 0.01 |
| HbA1c (%) | 5.6 ± 0.7 | 5.5 ± 0.6 | 5.3 ± 0.7 | 0.14 |
| Glucose (mg/dL)* | 94.1 ± 14.3 | 93.6 ± 13.2 | 91.9 ± 14.3 | 0.54 |
| TC (mg/dL) | 196.1 ± 43.0 | 184.4 ± 40.1 | 184.2 ± 35.8 | 0.25 |
| HDL (mg/dL) | 42.7 ± 9.0a | 45.0 ± 9.8a | 51.3 ± 11.9 | < 0.01 |
| LDL (mg/dL)# | 116.4 ± 38.8 | 111.1 ± 36.9 | 110.7 ± 29.5 | 0.67 |
| LDL/HDL# | 2.77 ± 0.95a | 2.54 ± 1.00a | 2.27 ± 0.75 | < 0.01 |
| VLDL (mg/dL)# | 36.1 ± 15.6a,b | 28.0 ± 14.0a | 22.2 ± 13.8 | < 0.01 |
| N-HDL cholesterol (mg/dL) | 153.4 ± 41.3a | 139.4 ± 41.0 | 133.0 ± 35.6 | 0.02 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 188.8 ± 89.5a,b | 147.6 ± 97.7a | 112.5 ± 73.8 | < 0.01 |
| AST (IU/L) | 26.8 ± 9.5 | 23.4 ± 8.3 | 24.2 ± 8.2 | 0.15 |
| ALT (IU/L) | 40.7 ± 15.6a,b | 30.8 ± 19.2 | 28.0 ± 14.5 | < 0.01 |
| AST/ALT | 0.69 ± 0.19a,b | 0.86 ± 0.30a | 0.95 ± 0.28 | < 0.01 |
aSignificantly different when compared to reference group (Tukey’s post-hoc); bSignificantly different when compared to borderline group; Different sample sizes for the variables: *Low TT (n = 31), Borderline TT(n = 81), and Reference TT (n = 181); #Low TT(n = 31), Borderline TT(n = 81), and Reference TT (n = 182). BMI (Body Mass Index); BP: Blood Pressure; HbA1c: Glycated Hemoglobin; TC: Total cholesterol; HDL: High Density Lipoprotein-cholesterol; LDL: Low Density Lipoprotein-cholesterol; VLDL: Very Low Density Lipoprotein- cholesterol; AST: Aspartate Aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine Aminotransferase.