Serum sex hormone–binding globulin, a determinant of cardiometabolic disorders independent of abdominal obesity and insulin resistance in elderly men and women

Abstract Serum sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) is related to cardiometabolic disorders; but whether or not this relationship is purely secondary to hyperinsulinemia and/or obesity, which down-regulates SHBG, is unknown. The aim of the study was to investigate the association of SHBG and total testosterone with atherogenic dyslipidemias, metabolic syndrome (MS), and diabetes among predominantly elderly Turkish adults. After appropriate exclusions, 777 randomly selected male and female subjects with available measurements of both variables were eligible and were analyzed cross-sectionally, with diabetic subjects analyzed separately. Free testosterone was calculated. Metabolic syndrome was identified by the modified criteria of the Adult Treatment Panel III. Metabolic syndrome was identified in half the sample, which had a median age of 58 years. The odds of low SHBG concentrations (