ArticlePloS one2015
Genetically predicted testosterone and systemic inflammation in men: a separate-sample Mendelian randomization analysis in older Chinese men.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- A cross-sectional study of testosterone deficiency and inflammatory markers in older men.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- The Potential Effect of Aberrant Testosterone Levels on Common Diseases: A Mendelian Randomization Study.Genes · 2020Article
- A Mendelian randomization study of testosterone and cognition in men.Scientific reports · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesObservationally, testosterone is negatively associated with systemic inflammation, but this association is open to both residual confounding and reverse causality. Large-scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs), assessing exogenous effects, are presently unavailable. We examined the association of endogenous testosterone with well-established systemic inflammatory markers (white blood cell, granulocyte, lymphocyte and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP)) using a separate-sample Mendelian randomization analysis to minimize reverse causality.
methodsA genetic prediction rule for serum testosterone was developed in 289 young Chinese men with mean age of 21.0, using selected testosterone-related SNPs (rs10046, rs1008805 and rs1256031). Multivariable linear regression was used to examine the association of genetically predicted serum testosterone with inflammatory markers among 4,212 older Chinese men from the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study.
resultsGenetically predicted testosterone was unrelated to white blood cell count (-0.01 109/L per nmol/L testosterone, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.05 to 0.04), granulocyte count (-0.02 109/L, 95% CI -0.06 to 0.02), lymphocyte count (0.005 109/L, 95% CI -0.01 to 0.02) and hsCRP (-0.05 mg/L, 95% CI -0.15 to 0.06).
conclusionOur findings did not corroborate any anti-inflammatory effects of testosterone or corresponding potentially protective effects of testosterone on chronic diseases resulting from reduced low-grade systemic inflammation.
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