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Vascular Pathways of Testosterone: Clinical Implications

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Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Testosterone (T) is an important sex hormone that triggers several genomic and non-genomic pathways, leading to improvements of several cardiovascular risk factors and quality of life in men. At the vascular level, the key effect of T is the vasorelaxation. This review discusses the molecular pathways and clinical implications of T in the vascular system. Firstly, the mechanisms involved in the T vasodilator effect will be presented. Then, it will be discussed the association of T with the main risks for CVD, namely metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, atherosclerosis, dyslipidaemia and hypertension. Several studies have shown a correlation between low T levels and an increased prevalence of several CVD. These observations suggest that T has beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system and that testosterone replacement therapy may become a therapeutic reality for some of these disorders.

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Funding

Margarida Lorigo acknowledges the doctoral incentive grant (BID) financed by the multiannual program contract of patronage UBI-Santander Totta (BID/FCS/2018). This work was also supported by FEDER funds through the POCI-COMPETE 2020—Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalisation in Axis I-Strengthening Research, Technological Development and Innovation (Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER007491) and National Funds by FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology (Project UID/Multi/00709/2019).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CICS-UBI - Centro de Investigação em Ciências da Saúde, University of Beira Interior, 6200-506, Covilhã, Portugal

    Margarida Lorigo, Melissa Mariana, Manuel C. Lemos & Elisa Cairrao

  2. UDI-IPG - Research Unit for Inland Development, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Av. Dr. Francisco de Sá Carneiro, 6300-654, Guarda, Portugal

    Nelson Oliveira

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  1. Margarida Lorigo
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  2. Melissa Mariana
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  3. Nelson Oliveira
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  4. Manuel C. Lemos
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Contributions

E.C. identified the need for this review; M.L., M.C.L and E.C designed the manuscript; M.L., M.M and O.L wrote the manuscript; M.L., M.M, O.L, M.C.L and E.C. reviewed the literature and E.C. and M.C.L. critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Elisa Cairrao.

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Lorigo, M., Mariana, M., Oliveira, N. et al. Vascular Pathways of Testosterone: Clinical Implications. J. of Cardiovasc. Trans. Res. 13, 55–72 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12265-019-09939-5

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