Expression of sex steroid receptors and aromatase in adipose tissue in different body regions in men with coronary artery disease with and without ischemic systolic heart failure.

Background: The hormonal metabolism of adipose tissue differs across regions of fat. This issue has never been verified in male patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) with and without systolic heart failure (SHF). Methods: We examined 90 male patients with CAD with and without SHF and 42 healthy controls. Results: In patients with CAD with and without SHF, androgen receptor (AR) expression in adipose tissue of the lower leg was higher than AR expression of the thoracic wall and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) (both p  < .0001 for SHF patients and both p  < .001 for patients without SHF). Expression of aromatase in adipose tissue of the lower leg among patients with CAD and SHF was higher than aromatase expression of the thoracic wall and EAT ( p  < .001 and p  < .05, respectively), and in patients without SHF, it was higher only than aromatase expression of the thoracic wall ( p  < .05). There were no differences in expression of estrogen receptor (ER) between three regions of adipose tissue both in men with CAD with and without SHF. Conclusions: In male patients with CAD, site-related differences of adipose tissue in expression of AR and aromatase are present regardless of coexisting SHF with the highest hormonal activity within peripheral subcutaneous adipose tissue.