ArticleCommunications medicine2023
Genetic analyses implicate complex links between adult testosterone levels and health and disease.
Article in Communications medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic review of instruments for measuring sex and gender attributes: assessment of measurement properties and utility in research on clinical and functional outcomes.Biomedical engineering online · 2026Pooled it
- The effects of sex and gender attributes on clinical outcomes: a systematic review.Biology of sex differences · 2025Pooled it
- Causality and potential drug targets for hyperandrogenism and anovulation-related infertility: two-sample Mendelian randomization and colocalization analyses.Journal of ovarian research · 2025Pooled it
- Discovery of novel ancestry specific genes for androgens and hypogonadism in Million Veteran Program Men.Nature communications · 2025Pooled it
- Redox biology in PCOS: Biomarkers, mechanistic networks, and targeted interventions (Review).International journal of molecular medicine · 2026Review
- Polymorphic Variant Associated with Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin Level Is a Risk Factor for Preeclampsia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Potential Mechanisms Linking Excessive Testosterone to PMOS: Insights from Network Toxicology and Machine Learning.Metabolites · 2026Article
- BMI-Dependent Associations of the Estradiol-Linked Polymorphism rs117585797 of theLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- BMI-Dependent Correlations of Sex Hormone Genes with Simple Endometrial Hyperplasia.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Polymorphism of theLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Higher Circulating Testosterone Linked to Higher CAD Risk in Men: Mendelian Randomization and Survival Analyses.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Article
- Effects of testosterone on gene expression in males and females across 40 human tissues.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Causal effects of serum testosterone on septic shock mortality: a Mendelian randomization study.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Article
- Understanding the Secular Decline in Testosterone: Mechanisms, Consequences, and Clinical Perspectives.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Associations between sex hormones and obesity-related indicators: results from the NHANES and Mendelian randomization study.European journal of medical research · 2025Article
- Exploring the shared genetic architecture between testosterone traits and major depressive disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- ProSAAS neuropeptides and receptors GPR171 and GPR83: Potential therapeutic applications for pain, anxiety, and body weight regulation.The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics · 2025Review
- Testosterone mediates life-history trade-offs in female mammals.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Testosterone and colorectal cancer: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.Translational cancer research · 2025Article
- Genetic determinants of plasma testosterone in male blood donors are associated with altered red blood cell characteristics and survival in cold storage and after transfusion.Transfusion and apheresis science : official journal of the World Apheresis Association : official journal of the European Society for Haemapheresis · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTestosterone levels are linked with diverse characteristics of human health, yet, whether these associations reflect correlation or causation remains debated. Here, we provide a broad perspective on the role of genetically determined testosterone on complex diseases in both sexes.
methodsLeveraging genetic and health registry data from the UK Biobank and FinnGen (total N = 625,650), we constructed polygenic scores (PGS) for total testosterone, sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and free testosterone, associating these with 36 endpoints across different disease categories in the FinnGen. These analyses were combined with Mendelian Randomization (MR) and cross-sex PGS analyses to address causality.
resultsWe show testosterone and SHBG levels are intricately tied to metabolic health, but report lack of causality behind most associations, including type 2 diabetes (T2D). Across other disease domains, including 13 behavioral and neurological diseases, we similarly find little evidence for a substantial contribution from normal variation in testosterone levels. We nonetheless find genetically predicted testosterone affects many sex-specific traits, with a pronounced impact on female reproductive health, including causal contribution to PCOS-related traits like hirsutism and post-menopausal bleeding (PMB). We also illustrate how testosterone levels associate with antagonistic effects on stroke risk and reproductive endpoints between the sexes.
conclusionsOverall, these findings provide insight into how genetically determined testosterone correlates with several health parameters in both sexes. Yet the lack of evidence for a causal contribution to most traits beyond sex-specific health underscores the complexity of the mechanisms linking testosterone levels to disease risk and sex differences.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.