Therapeutic effect of andriol on serum lipids and apolipoproteins in elderly male coronary heart disease patients.
The elevated estradiol/testosterone (E2/T) ratio had been proved to be a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) in elderly males and to exert an adverse effect on lipid metabolism. We conducted a randomized cross-over study to determine the effect of Andriol, a new androgenic preparation, on plasma lipids and apolipoproteins. The results showed a significant difference in most parameters between patients receiving Andriol and the control group: in the former, serum T level was elevated significantly (P < 0.001), E2 level was unchanged (P > 0.05) and the E2/T ratio was reduced (P > 0.05). Blood levels of total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) were lowered dramatically (P < 0.001) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-ch) was raised (P < 0.05), but apolipoprotein-AI (APO-AI) and B (APO-B) levels remained unchanged. No obvious side effect was observed in those who took Andriol.