Association between cardiometabolic index and testosterone among adult males: A cross- sectional analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013-2016

Abstract

Abstract Background Cardiometabolic index (CMI) is a well-promising indicator for predicting obesity-related diseases. Testosterone decline and deficiency importantly affect men's health, and may be associated with obesity and excessive deposition of visceral adipose tissue. Therefore, this study intends to explore the relationship between CMI and testosterone.Methods The present cross-sectional study was conducted among adult males with complete data about CMI and testosterone in 2013–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Calculate CMI: Triglyceride (TG) (mmol/L)/ High-density lipid-cholesterol (HDL–C) (mmol/L) × waist-to-height Ratio (WHtR). Multivariable regression and subgroup analyses were conducted to explore the association between CMI and testosterone.Results We included 2,209 male participants for the final analysis. After adjusting for confounders, CMI was found to show a negative correlation between testosterone (Minimally adjusted model: β=-10.56, 95%CI: -12.76, -8.36, P < 0.0001, fully adjusted model: β=-0.04 (-4.88, 4.81), P = 0.9882). Multivariate-adjusted beta also showed testosterone levels were significantly lower in the two highest CMI groups (Q3, Q4) compared to the lowest group (Q1). In the subgroup populations, the relationship between CMI and testosterone was affected by age, race, Education level, Hypertension, and smoking status (P-interaction༜0.05). Furthermore, ROC curve analysis indicated that the area under the curve of the CMI (0.68 (95% CI: (0.65,0.71) was more significant than that of the TyG index (0.67 (95% CI: 0.65,0.70).Conclusion CMI levels were negatively related to a decreased likelihood of testosterone in United States male adults. Our findings indicated that CMI may be a simple anthropometric index to predict testosterone.