ArticleEBioMedicine2018
Acetaminophen (Paracetamol) Use Modifies the Sulfation of Sex Hormones.
Article in EBioMedicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Integrative Bioinformatic and Epidemiological Analysis of Acetaminophen Use and Risk of Sex Hormone-Related Cancers.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluation of the evidence on acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders using the Navigation Guide methodology.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2025Pooled it
- Long-Term Safety of Prenatal and Neonatal Exposure to Paracetamol: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Prenatal over-the-counter acetaminophen use and birth outcomes in the ECHO Cohort.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Higher paracetamol levels are associated with elevated glucocorticoid concentrations in hair: findings from a large cohort of young adults.Archives of toxicology · 2024Article
- Maturation of Paracetamol Elimination Routes in Preterm Neonates Born Below 32 Weeks of Gestation.Pharmaceutical research · 2023Article
- Sperm concentrations do not correlate with semen parameters and hormone profiles in males recovered from COVID-19.Translational andrology and urology · 2023Article
- Multi-Omics Studies in Historically Excluded Populations: The Road to Equity.Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2023Review
- CCDB: A database for exploring inter-chemical correlations in metabolomics and exposomics datasets.Environment international · 2022Article
- N-Acetylcysteine and Other Sulfur-Donors as a Preventative and Adjunct Therapy for COVID-19.Advances in pharmacological and pharmaceutical sciences · 2022Review
- Paracetamol use during pregnancy - a call for precautionary action.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2021Review
- Atlantoaxial Rotatory Subluxation in a 10-Year-Old Boy.Clinical medicine insights. Arthritis and musculoskeletal disorders · 2020Article
- Generating the Blood Exposome Database Using a Comprehensive Text Mining and Database Fusion Approach.Environmental health perspectives · 2019Article
- Leveraging Human Microbiome Features to Diagnose and Stratify Children with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.The Journal of molecular diagnostics : JMD · 2019Article
- Profound Perturbation of the Metabolome in Obesity Is Associated with Health Risk.Cell metabolism · 2019Article
- Pharmacogenomic Testing In Pediatrics: Navigating The Ethical, Social, And Legal Challenges.Pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAcetaminophen (paracetamol) is one of the most common medications used for management of pain in the world. There is lack of consensus about the mechanism of action, and concern about the possibility of adverse effects on reproductive health.
methodsWe first established the metabolome profile that characterizes use of acetaminophen, and we subsequently trained and tested a model that identified metabolomic differences across samples from 455 individuals with and without acetaminophen use. We validated the findings in a European ancestry adult twin cohort of 1880 individuals (TwinsUK), and in a study of 1235 individuals of African American and Hispanic ancestry. We used genomics to elucidate the mechanisms targeted by acetaminophen.
findingsWe identified a distinctive pattern of depletion of sulfated sex hormones with use of acetaminophen across all populations. We used a Mendelian randomization approach to characterize the role of Sulfotransferase Family 2A Member 1 (SULT2A1) as the site of the interaction. Although CYP3A7-CYP3A51P variants also modified levels of some sulfated sex hormones, only acetaminophen use phenocopied the effect of genetic variants of SULT2A1. Overall, acetaminophen use, age, gender and SULT2A1 and CYP3A7-CYP3A51P genetic variants are key determinants of variation in levels of sulfated sex hormones in blood. The effect of taking acetaminophen on sulfated sex hormones was roughly equivalent to the effect of 35years of aging.
interpretationThese findings raise concerns of the impact of acetaminophen use on hormonal homeostasis. In addition, it modifies views on the mechanism of action of acetaminophen in pain management as sulfated sex hormones can function as neurosteroids and modify nociceptive thresholds.
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Registered trials
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