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Higher Circulating Testosterone Linked to Higher CAD Risk in Men: Mendelian Randomization and Survival Analyses
Emily J Morbey1, Felix R Day1, Adam S Butterworth2,3,4,5,6
1MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, L3 Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge CB2 0SL, UK.
Insights
Higher testosterone levels increase coronary artery disease risk in men, but not women, according to Mendelian randomization. This finding highlights a potential cardiovascular risk associated with testosterone supplementation.
Area of Science:
- Endocrinology
- Cardiovascular Medicine
- Genetic Epidemiology
Background:
- Testosterone supplementation is widely used for sexual and metabolic health benefits.
- Cardiovascular risks associated with testosterone therapy remain uncertain.
- Mendelian randomization (MR) studies can investigate causal effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the causal effect of higher circulating testosterone on coronary artery disease (CAD) using MR.
- To examine the phenotypic association between measured testosterone and CAD in men aged 40-69.
Main Methods:
- MR study utilizing genetic data from UK Biobank (n=425,097) for testosterone and CARDIoGRAMplusC4D (n=1,165,690) for CAD.
- Phenotypic association analysis in a cohort of men aged 40-69.
- CAD defined by CARDIoGRAMplusC4D and longitudinal medical records/self-report.
Main Results:
- Higher genetically predicted testosterone increased CAD risk in men (OR 1.17, P=3.32×10-4), mediated by blood pressure.
- No significant CAD risk was observed in women.
- Observational analyses showed a reverse association in men, likely due to confounding factors like Type 2 diabetes and BMI.
Conclusions:
- Elevated testosterone levels may increase cardiovascular disease risk in men.
- This safety concern warrants attention in future testosterone supplementation clinical trials.
- Further research is needed to clarify the cardiovascular implications of testosterone therapy.
Context:
Testosterone supplementation is increasingly widespread and has well-established beneficial effects on sexual function and metabolic health. However, there remains uncertainty regarding associated cardiovascular risks.
Objective:
Human genetics studies demonstrated that Mendelian randomization approaches recapitulate the beneficial effects of testosterone therapy; here we apply this to cardiovascular disease.
Design:
We performed a Mendelian randomization study to assess the causal effect of higher circulating testosterone on coronary artery disease (CAD). We also tested the phenotypic association between measured circulating testosterone and CAD in the cohort of men aged 40 to 69.
Patients Or Other Participants:
Testosterone genetic instrument data were derived from 425 097 European ancestry adults from the UK Biobank study and CAD from single nucleotide polymorphism-level summary statistics from 1 165 690 individuals in CARDIoGRAMplusC4D.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
CAD as defined in CARDIoGRAMplusC4D was the main outcome. In longitudinal analyses, CAD was defined according to medical records and self-report.
Results:
We found that higher genetically predicted circulating testosterone conferred a higher risk of CAD in men [odds ratio (OR): 1.17, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07-1.27, P = 3.32 × 10-4]. There was no evidence of an effect in women (OR: 1.01, 95% CI 0.94-1.10, P = .73). The genetic association in men appeared to be mediated by higher blood pressure. In longitudinal observational analyses, a directionally opposite association was observed in men, likely arising due to confounding by type 2 diabetes and body mass index.
Conclusion:
These data suggest that increased testosterone may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and that this safety concern should be a focus in future clinical trials for testosterone supplementation.
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