Background: Anthropometric measures, including obesity, are important risk factors for breast and endometrial cancers in postmenopausal women. It is unknown whether these risk factors are associated with androgen metabolism, another risk factor for these cancers. Methods: Using baseline data from 1,765 postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis examining associations between anthropometric measures [current body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), height, and recalled BMI at age 18) and serum androgen metabolites. Twelve androgens/androgen metabolites were quantified using LC-MS/MS. Geometric means of androgen/androgen metabolite concentrations were estimated using linear regression, adjusting for potential confounders and stratified by hormone therapy (HT) use. Results: Regardless of HT use, higher current BMI (≥30 vs. <25 kg/m2) was associated with higher serum concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), 5α-reduced glucuronide metabolites [androsterone-glucuronide (ADT-G), 5α-androstane-3α,17β diol-3-glucuronide (3α-diol-3G), 3α-diol-17-glucuronide (3α-diol-17G)], and DHEAS:DHEA ratio (all P trend ≤ 0.02). BMI was also positively associated with unconjugated estrone:androstenedione and unconjugated estradiol:testosterone ratios among never/former HT users (all P trend < 0.001) but not among current users ( P -int < 0.001). WHR was positively associated with adrenal androgens and 5α-reduced glucuronide metabolites in obese women only (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2; all P -trend ≤ 0.01). BMI at age 18 was inversely associated with adrenal androgens (DHEA, DHEAS, androstenedione, testosterone) and 5α-reduced glucuronide metabolites in never/former HT users (all P trend < 0.06). Height was not associated with androgen metabolites. Conclusions: Current BMI is associated with androgen metabolism among postmenopausal women. Impact: This study contributes to our understanding of the link between obesity and cancer risk in postmenopausal women.

中文翻译：

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妇女健康倡议观察性研究中绝经后妇女的肥胖、身高和血清雄激素代谢


背景：包括肥胖在内的人体测量指标是绝经后妇女乳腺癌和子宫内膜癌的重要危险因素。目前尚不清楚这些危险因素是否与雄激素代谢（这些癌症的另一个危险因素）有关。方法：使用妇女健康倡议观察研究中 1,765 名绝经后妇女的基线数据，我们进行了一项横断面分析，检查人体测量指标 [当前体重指数 (BMI)、腰臀比 (WHR)、身高、并回忆起 18 岁时的 BMI）和血清雄激素代谢物。使用 LC-MS/MS 对 12 种雄激素/雄激素代谢物进行定量。使用线性回归估计雄激素/雄激素代谢物浓度的几何平均值，调整潜在的混杂因素，并按激素治疗（HT）的使用进行分层。结果：无论使用 HT，较高的当前 BMI（≥30 vs. <25 kg/m2）与较高的硫酸脱氢表雄酮 (DHEAS)、5α-还原葡萄糖醛酸代谢物 [雄酮-葡萄糖醛酸 (ADT-G)、5α] 血清浓度相关-雄甾烷-3α,17β 二醇-3-葡萄糖苷酸 (3α-二醇-3G)、3α-二醇-17-葡萄糖苷酸 (3α-二醇-17G)] 和 DHEAS:DHEA 比率（所有 P 趋势 ≤ 0.02）。在从未/以前的 HT 用户中，BMI 也与非结合雌酮：雄烯二酮和非结合雌二醇：睾酮比率呈正相关（所有 P 趋势 < 0.001），但在当前用户中则不然（P -int < 0.001）。仅在肥胖女性中，腰臀比与肾上腺雄激素和 5α-还原葡萄糖醛酸代谢物呈正相关（BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2；所有 P 趋势 ≤ 0.01）。从未/以前使用过 HT 的人 18 岁时的 BMI 与肾上腺雄激素（DHEA、DHEAS、雄烯二酮、睾酮）和 5α-还原葡萄糖醛酸代谢物呈负相关（所有 P 趋势 < 0.06）。 身高与雄激素代谢物无关。结论：当前 BMI 与绝经后女性的雄激素代谢相关。影响：这项研究有助于我们了解绝经后女性肥胖与癌症风险之间的联系。