Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Cardiol. Sep 26, 2015; 7(9): 504-510
Published online Sep 26, 2015. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v7.i9.504
Central and peripheral testosterone effects in men with heart failure: An approach for cardiovascular research
Željko Bušić, Viktor Čulić
Viktor Čulić, Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Center Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
Željko Bušić, Viktor Čulić, University of Split School of Medicine, 21000 Split, Croatia
Author contributions: Bušić Ž reviewed the literature, wrote the manuscript; Čulić V critically revised the article and finally approved the version of the article to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Viktor Čulić, MD, PhD, Professor, University Hospital Center Split, Šoltanska 1, 21000 Split, Croatia. viktor.culic@st.t-com.hr
Telephone: +385-21-557531 Fax: +385-21-557385
Received: November 17, 2014
Peer-review started: November 17, 2014
First decision: December 12, 2014
Revised: June 10, 2015
Accepted: July 21, 2015
Article in press: July 23, 2015
Published online: September 26, 2015
Processing time: 101 Days and 23.9 Hours
Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is a syndrome recognized as a health problem worldwide. Despite advances in treatment, patients with HF still have increased morbidity and mortality. Testosterone is one of the most researched hormones in the course of HF. Growing interest regarding the effect of testosterone, on a variety of body systems, has increased the knowledge about its mechanisms of action. The terms central and peripheral effects are used to distinguish the effects of testosterone on cardiac and extracardiac structures. Central effects include influences on cardiomyocytes and electrophysiology. Peripheral effects include influences on blood vessels, baroreceptor reactivity, skeletal muscles and erythropoesis. Current knowledge about peripheral effects of testosterone may explain much about beneficiary effects in the pathophysiology of HF syndrome. However, central, i.e., cardiac effects of testosterone are to be further explored.

Keywords: Cardiomyocytes; Exercise; Electrophysiology; Heart failure; Vasodilation; Testosterone

Core tip: Patients with heart failure often have a lower endogenous testosterone level. Testosterone has a number of effects on cardiac and extracardiac structures via genomic and non-genomic mechanisms. We summarize current knowledge about the involvement of testosterone in heart failure syndrome.