Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39805019›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2025

The androgen clock is an epigenetic predictor of long-term male hormone exposure.

Victoria J Sugrue, Melanie Prescott, Kelly A Glendining, Donna M Bond, Steve Horvath, Greg M Anderson, Michael Garratt, Rebecca E Campbell, Timothy A Hore

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Postnatal maternal care impacts hypothalamicbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
  3. The androgen clock is an epigenetic predictor of long-term male hormone exposure.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Victoria J SugrueDepartment of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-0427-5146
Melanie PrescottDepartment of Physiology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
Kelly A GlendiningDepartment of Physiology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
Donna M BondDepartment of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
Steve HorvathAltos Laboratories, Cambridge Institute of Science, Cambridge CB21 6GQ, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-4110-3589
Greg M AndersonDepartment of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-6747-8047
Michael GarrattDepartment of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-9383-3313
Rebecca E CampbellDepartment of Physiology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-0309-532X
Timothy A HoreDepartment of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-6735-225X

Funding

Manatu Hauora | Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) HRC 18/671Royal Society of New Zealand | Marsden Fund (Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund) MFP-UOO2211
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Aging is a complex process characterized by biological decline and a wide range of molecular alterations to cells, including changes to DNA methylation. In this study, we used a male-specific epigenetic marker of aging to build an epigenetic predictor that measures long-term androgen exposure in sheep and mice (median absolute error of 4.3 and 1.4 mo, respectively). We term this predictor the androgen clock and show its "tick" is mediated by the androgen receptor and can be accelerated beyond that in normal male mice by supplementing females with dihydrotestosterone. Conversely, the removal of androgens by castration in sheep completely halted the androgen clock. In addition to potential applications in medicine and agriculture, we predict the androgen clock will prove a useful model to understand the mechanisms and processes of age-associated DNA methylation change because it can be precisely enhanced and halted using small molecule manipulation with few additional effects on the cell.

Indexed as

AgingAndrogensEpigenesis, GeneticAnimalsDihydrotestosteroneDNA MethylationFemaleMaleMiceReceptors, AndrogenSheepTestosteroneAndrogensDihydrotestosteroneReceptors, AndrogenTestosteroneageingagingandrogensepigenetic clockepigenetics

Identifiers

PMID39805019
PMCPMC11760496

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.