Hyperinsulinemia is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and is linked with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), hyperlipidemia, obesity, and hypertension. Sex hormones also play a role in the metabolic alterations associated with the risk for cardiovascular disease. A reduction in sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) may be predictive of future NIDDM particularly in women. The postmenopausal decline in estrogen is also associated with an increase in risk factor expression in women. Since African Americans experience a greater prevalence of NIDDM, obesity, and hypertension, conditions associated with hyperinsulinemia, the purpose of this study was to determine if alterations in sex hormone levels are associated with the plasma insulin concentration in young adult African Americans, and to determine if there are sex differences in the effect of insulin on lipids and sex hormones. In a sample of 221 nondiabetic African American men (n = 105) and women (n = 116) with a mean age of 31 years, we examined the relationship of the plasma insulin concentration with the body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, plasma lipids, and sex hormones, including free testosterone, estradiol, and SHBG. Plasma insulin increased with the BMI and other measures of adiposity (P<.001) in men and women. Significant correlations of insulin with plasma lipids were also present in both sexes. There was a significant inverse correlation of insulin with SHBG in both men (r = .28, P = .007) and women (r = .27, P = .02). There was a significant direct correlation of insulin with free testosterone in women (r = .032, P<.001). Stepwise multiple regression analyses with insulin as the dependent variable detected the BMI, triglyceride, and apolipoprotein A1 as significant contributors to the plasma insulin concentration in men. In women, the multiple regression model detected percent body fat, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and free testosterone as significant contributors to plasma insulin. These data on young African Americans demonstrate a significant relationship between hyperinsulinemia and obesity, atherogenic lipid status, and lower SHBG. In the premenopausal women, the lower SHBG is linked with higher free testosterone, favoring a condition of relative androgen excess.