Effect of free androgen index on blood pressure variability and target organ damage in postmenopausal hypertensive women: findings from a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: The present study investigated the effects of free androgen index (FAI) on ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and target organ function in postmenopausal hypertensive women. Methods: A total of 285 postmenopausal hypertensive women (mean age 54.06 ± 3.61) were admitted to the Department of Hypertension of Lanzhou University Second Hospital between December 2018 and December 2020. According to the serum FAI level, the participants were divided into a low-FAI (<0.15) group, a medium-FAI (0.15-0.2) group, and a high-FAI (>0.2) group. The relationship of FAI with 24-hour ABP, left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) was analyzed. Results: The LVMI, CAVI, 24-hour mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), 24-hour SBP coefficient of variation and 24-hour SBP standard deviation, 24-hour SBP average real variation (ARV), and 24-hour diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ARV in high-FAI group were significantly higher than those in low- and medium-FAI groups ( P < 0.05). After adjusting for confounding factors, partial correlation analysis showed that FAI was positively correlated with LVMI ( r = 0.728, P < 0.001), CAVI (left: r = 0.718, P < 0.001; right: r = 0.742, P < 0.001), 24-hour SBP ARV ( r = 0.817, P < 0.001), and 24-hour DBP ARV ( r = 0.747, P < 0.001). After adjusting for confounding factors, it was found that LVMI increased by 17.64 g/m 2 for every 1 unit increase in FAI. CAVI also increased by 8.983 for every additional unit of FAI. In addition, the results also showed that LVMI and CAVI decreased respectively by 0.198 g/m 2 and 0.009 for every 1 unit increase in sex hormone–binding globulin. Multivariable linear regression showed that FAI was an independent risk factor for 24-hour SBP ARV (OR: 20.416, 95% CI 8.143-32.688, P = 0.001) and 24-hour DBP ARV (OR: 16.539, 95% CI 0.472-32.607, P = 0.044). The results also showed that sex hormone–binding globulin was an independent factor of 24-hour SBP ARV (OR: −0.022, 95% CI −0.044 to 0.000, P = 0.048) and 24-hour DBP-ARV (OR: −0.018, 95% CI −0.029 to −0.008, P = 0.001). Conclusion: Higher serum FAI levels in postmenopausal hypertensive women indicate abnormal BP regulation and more serious target organ damage. FAI is closely related to 24-hour SBP ARV and 24-hour DBP ARV in postmenopausal hypertensive women.

Impact of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and free androgen index on pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in PCOS patients

“…Zhang et al found that FAI and free testosterone (FT) were significant factors associated with fertility outcomes in infertile PCOS patients, with FAI showing a significant correlation with ovulations per cycle, clinical pregnancy, hCG positive, and live birth rates. When FAI exceeded 7.85, the pregnancy rate and live birth rate significantly decreased, while the conception rate increased inversely [ 15 , 27 ], FAI may serve as a significant predictor for conception, pregnancy, and LBR [ 28 , 29 ]. Additionally, Kuang et al demonstrated that combining FAI with factors such as age and insulin levels could predict at least one pregnancy outcome [ 30 , 31 ].…”