Association Between Androgenic Alopecia and Coronary Artery Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study of Han Chinese Male Population

Ya-Xin Wang; Xiao-Wen Chen; Si-Bo Wang; Ling-Feng Gu; Ya-Fei Li; Yao Ma; Hao Wang; Lian-Sheng Wang

doi:10.2147/IJGM.S326812

Association Between Androgenic Alopecia and Coronary Artery Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study of Han Chinese Male Population

Int J Gen Med. 2021 Aug 26:14:4809-4818. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S326812. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Ya-Xin Wang¹, Xiao-Wen Chen¹, Si-Bo Wang¹, Ling-Feng Gu¹, Ya-Fei Li¹, Yao Ma¹, Hao Wang¹, Lian-Sheng Wang¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Cardiology, Jiangsu Province People's Hospital and Nanjing Medical University First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing, 210029, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Purpose: This research aimed to investigate the correlation between androgenic alopecia (AGA) and coronary artery disease (CAD) and analyze its value in predicting the severity of coronary atherosclerosis in the Han Chinese male population.

Patients and methods: A total of 402 Han Chinese male patients aged 28-75 years were enrolled and performed coronary angiography (CAG) after admission. According to the BASP classification, the participants were divided into mild, moderate and severe AGA. CAD was determined via CAG and defined as stenosis of ≥50% in at least one major coronary artery, and the Gensini score was calculated to evaluate the severity of coronary atherosclerosis.

Results: In this study, CAD status (P = 0.002), dyslipidemia status (P = 0.002), age (P = 0.003) and coronary atherosclerosis severity (P < 0.001) were different in patients with different levels of AGA. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that severe AGA was independently correlated to CAD risk (OR, 2.111; 95% CI 1.152 to 3.870, P = 0.016), while the relative CAD risk of early-onset AGA was 2.292 (OR, 2.292; 95% CI 1.132 to 4.640, P = 0.021). AGA status (OR, 2.247; 95% CI 1.396 to 3.617, P = 0.001), severe AGA (OR, 2.360; 95% CI 1.506 to 3.699, P < 0.001) and early-onset AGA (OR, 3.474; 95% CI 2.069 to 5.832, P < 0.001) were all independently associated with the severity of coronary atherosclerosis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve plotted using severe AGA was 0.601, which is predictive of severe coronary atherosclerosis. Moreover, the presence of severe AGA increases the risk of developing CAD associated with obesity (SI = 1.663, SIM = 1.222, AP = 0.289), diabetes (SI = 2.239, SIM = 1.149, AP = 0.503) and dyslipidemia (SI = 1.062, SIM = 0.646, AP = 0.045).

Conclusion: This study suggested that AGA is independently associated with CAD in a Han Chinese male population. AGA may be a simple and feasible method for screening CAD and indicative of the severity of coronary atherosclerosis.

Keywords: androgenic alopecia; cardiovascular disease; coronary angiography; coronary artery disease; coronary atherosclerosis.

Grants and funding

The study did not receive any specific funding from any funding agency in the public, commercial or non-profit sectors.