Impact of Excess Androgenic Activity on Non-Fasting Serum Lipid Profile in Reproductive Age Women with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is an endocrinopathy that affects people of different ages. It is among the components of metabolic syndrome which has broad health implications. Obesity, insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism coexist in T2DM, and could have independent and interactive effects on dyslipidemia manifested mostly by elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), triglyceride (TG) levels and decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc).Aim of the study was to confirm the relationship between non-fasting TG, testosterone (Ts) and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels in reproductive age women with T2DM.Materials and Methods: Serum non-fasting lipid profile and sex hormone levels were measured in 40 female patients with T2DM and 35 normoglycemic women without a known family history of diabetes mellitus as a control group. Enzymatic colorimetric methods were used to measure the non-fasting lipids and blood glucose, while Eliza technique was used to measure testosterone (Ts) and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) by DRG-ELISA kit. Results & Discussion: There are significant elevations in triglycerides (TG) and atherogenic index (AI), with highly significant reduction in HDL-C, p˂ 0.001; in the patient group (women with T2DM) as compared to their control group .There were no significant differences in the mean total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C). As concerning sex hormones, there was a significant reduction in SHBG concentrations (p˂ 0.01) in T2DM women in relation to their normal glycemic control women. Serum total Ts levels showed no marked difference between the two groups, however it showed a significant correlation with the TG (p< 0.05) and AI (p <0.05) in the T2DM women. The free androgenic index (FAI) was significantly higher in the T2DM group and showed a significant correlation with serum TG.Conclusion: These results confirm the association of low SHBG with elevation in androgenic activity and non-fasting TG in the diabetic women with expectation of high risk of cardiovascular disease.