Metabolic Syndrome, Hormone Levels, and Inflammation in Patients with Erectile Dysfunction

BACKGROUND The end point of this study was to investigate the prevalence of MS in patients with ED in comparison with control subjects and to analyse the association with acute phase reactants (CRP, ESR) and hormone levels. METHODS This case-control study included 65 patients, 37 with erectile dysfunction, according to the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) from the Urology Department of San Cecilio University Hospital, Granada (Spain) and 28 healthy controls. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was calculated according to ATP-III criteria. Hormone levels and acute phase parameters were studied in samples drawn. RESULTS The ATP-III criteria for MS were met by 64.9% of the patients with ED and only 9.5% of the controls (P < 0.0001, OR = 17.53, 95% CI: 3.52-87.37). Binary logistic regression analysis showed a strong association between patients with ED and MS, even after additional adjustment for confounding factors (OR = 20.05, 95% CI: 1.24-32.82, P < 0.034). Patients with hypogonadism presented a significantly higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that systolic BP and CRP predicted 0.46 (model R²) of IIEF changes. CONCLUSION Chronic inflammation found in patients with ED might explain the association between ED and metabolic syndrome.