| Title: | Sociodemographic, lifestyle and medical influences on serum testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin in men from UK Biobank |
| Journal: | Clinical Endocrinology |
| Published: | 10 Oct 2020 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32979890/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.14342 |
Publication 13697
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Serum testosterone concentrations are affected by factors unrelated to hypothalamo-pituitary-testicular axis pathology. We evaluated the impact of sociodemographic, lifestyle and medical factors, on serum testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) in men aged 40-69 years.</p>
DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of 208,677 community-dwelling men from the UK Biobank.</p>
MEASUREMENTS: We analysed associations of different factors with serum testosterone and SHBG (immunoassays) and calculated free testosterone (cFT), using smoothed centile plots, linear mixed models and effect size estimates.</p>
RESULTS: Median (interquartile range) for serum testosterone was 11.6 (9.4-14.1) nmol/L, SHBG 36.9 (27.9-48.1) nmol/L and cFT 213 (178-255) pmol/L. Age and BMI were inversely associated with testosterone and cFT, while SHBG was associated with age and inversely with BMI (all P < .001). Living with a partner, (South) Asian ethnicity, never or previous smoker and some medical conditions were associated with lower testosterone. Poultry or fish eater, and higher physical activity were associated with higher testosterone (all P < .001). Testosterone was lowered by ~0.5 nmol/L across ages, ~1.5 nmol/L for BMI 30 vs 25 kg/m2 , ~2 nmol/L for (South) Asian ethnicity, living with partner, college/university qualifications, low red meat eater, insufficient physical activity and 0.3-1.0 nmol/L with cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Different combinations of these factors varied serum testosterone by ~4 nmol/L, SHBG by ~30 nmol/L and cFT by ~60 pmol/L.</p>
CONCLUSIONS: The identified modifiable risk factors support lifestyle-based interventions in men with low testosterone concentrations. Considering sociodemographic, lifestyle and medical factors facilitates more personalized interpretation of testosterone testing results with respect to existing reference ranges.</p>
8 Keywords
- Biological Specimen Banks
- Cross-Sectional Studies
- Humans
- Life Style
- Male
- Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin
- Testosterone
- United Kingdom
16 Authors
- Bu B. Yeap
- Ross J. Marriott
- Leen Antonio
- Shalender Bhasin
- Adrian S. Dobs
- Girish Dwivedi
- Leon Flicker
- Alvin M. Matsumoto
- Claes Ohlsson
- Eric S. Orwoll
- Suchitra Raj
- Christopher M. Reid
- Dirk Vanderschueren
- Gary A. Wittert
- Frederick C. W. Wu
- Kevin Murray
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 54680 | Sex hormones as predictors of key health outcomes in men from the UK Biobank |
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