| 1. |
- Ohlsson, Claes, 1965, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic determinants of serum testosterone concentrations in men.
- 2011
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Ingår i: PLoS genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7404 .- 1553-7390. ; 7:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Testosterone concentrations in men are associated with cardiovascular morbidity, osteoporosis, and mortality and are affected by age, smoking, and obesity. Because of serum testosterone's high heritability, we performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data in 8,938 men from seven cohorts and followed up the genome-wide significant findings in one in silico (n = 871) and two de novo replication cohorts (n = 4,620) to identify genetic loci significantly associated with serum testosterone concentration in men. All these loci were also associated with low serum testosterone concentration defined as <300 ng/dl. Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms at the sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) locus (17p13-p12) were identified as independently associated with serum testosterone concentration (rs12150660, p = 1.2×10(-41) and rs6258, p = 2.3×10(-22)). Subjects with ≥ 3 risk alleles of these variants had 6.5-fold higher risk of having low serum testosterone than subjects with no risk allele. The rs5934505 polymorphism near FAM9B on the X chromosome was also associated with testosterone concentrations (p = 5.6×10(-16)). The rs6258 polymorphism in exon 4 of SHBG affected SHBG's affinity for binding testosterone and the measured free testosterone fraction (p<0.01). Genetic variants in the SHBG locus and on the X chromosome are associated with a substantial variation in testosterone concentrations and increased risk of low testosterone. rs6258 is the first reported SHBG polymorphism, which affects testosterone binding to SHBG and the free testosterone fraction and could therefore influence the calculation of free testosterone using law-of-mass-action equation.
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| 2. |
- Grossmann, Igor, et al.
(författare)
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Insights into the accuracy of social scientists' forecasts of societal change
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature Human Behaviour. - : Springer Nature. - 2397-3374. ; 7, s. 484-501
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How well can social scientists predict societal change, and what processes underlie their predictions? To answer these questions, we ran two forecasting tournaments testing the accuracy of predictions of societal change in domains commonly studied in the social sciences: ideological preferences, political polarization, life satisfaction, sentiment on social media, and gender-career and racial bias. After we provided them with historical trend data on the relevant domain, social scientists submitted pre-registered monthly forecasts for a year (Tournament 1; N = 86 teams and 359 forecasts), with an opportunity to update forecasts on the basis of new data six months later (Tournament 2; N = 120 teams and 546 forecasts). Benchmarking forecasting accuracy revealed that social scientists' forecasts were on average no more accurate than those of simple statistical models (historical means, random walks or linear regressions) or the aggregate forecasts of a sample from the general public (N = 802). However, scientists were more accurate if they had scientific expertise in a prediction domain, were interdisciplinary, used simpler models and based predictions on prior data. How accurate are social scientists in predicting societal change, and what processes underlie their predictions? Grossmann et al. report the findings of two forecasting tournaments. Social scientists' forecasts were on average no more accurate than those of simple statistical models.
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| 3. |
- Lind, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Genome Wide Association Identifies Common Variants at the SERPINA6/SERPINA1 Locus Influencing Plasma Cortisol and Corticosteroid Binding Globulin.
- 2014
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Ingår i: PLoS genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7404 .- 1553-7390. ; 10:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Variation in plasma levels of cortisol, an essential hormone in the stress response, is associated in population-based studies with cardio-metabolic, inflammatory and neuro-cognitive traits and diseases. Heritability of plasma cortisol is estimated at 30-60% but no common genetic contribution has been identified. The CORtisol NETwork (CORNET) consortium undertook genome wide association meta-analysis for plasma cortisol in 12,597 Caucasian participants, replicated in 2,795 participants. The results indicate that <1% of variance in plasma cortisol is accounted for by genetic variation in a single region of chromosome 14. This locus spans SERPINA6, encoding corticosteroid binding globulin (CBG, the major cortisol-binding protein in plasma), and SERPINA1, encoding α1-antitrypsin (which inhibits cleavage of the reactive centre loop that releases cortisol from CBG). Three partially independent signals were identified within the region, represented by common SNPs; detailed biochemical investigation in a nested sub-cohort showed all these SNPs were associated with variation in total cortisol binding activity in plasma, but some variants influenced total CBG concentrations while the top hit (rs12589136) influenced the immunoreactivity of the reactive centre loop of CBG. Exome chip and 1000 Genomes imputation analysis of this locus in the CROATIA-Korcula cohort identified missense mutations in SERPINA6 and SERPINA1 that did not account for the effects of common variants. These findings reveal a novel common genetic source of variation in binding of cortisol by CBG, and reinforce the key role of CBG in determining plasma cortisol levels. In turn this genetic variation may contribute to cortisol-associated degenerative diseases.
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| 4. |
- Eriksson, Anna-Lena, 1971, et al.
(författare)
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SHBG gene promoter polymorphisms in men are associated with serum sex hormone-binding globulin, androgen and androgen metabolite levels, and hip bone mineral density.
- 2006
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Ingår i: The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism. - : The Endocrine Society. - 0021-972X .- 1945-7197. ; 91:12, s. 5029-37
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- CONTEXT: SHBG regulates free sex steroid levels, which in turn regulate skeletal homeostasis. Twin studies have demonstrated that genetic factors largely account for interindividual variation in SHBG levels. Glucuronidated androgen metabolites have been proposed as markers of androgenic activity. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to investigate whether polymorphisms in the SHBG gene promoter [(TAAAA)(n) microsatellite and rs1799941 single-nucleotide polymorphism] are associated with serum levels of SHBG, sex steroids, or bone mineral density (BMD) in men. DESIGN AND STUDY SUBJECTS: We conducted a population-based study of two cohorts of Swedish men: elderly men (MrOS Sweden; n congruent with 3000; average age, 75.4 yr) and young adult men (GOOD study; n = 1068; average age, 18.9 yr). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We measured serum levels of SHBG, testosterone, estradiol, dihydrotestosterone, 5alpha-androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol glucuronides, androsterone glucuronide, and BMD determined by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: In both cohorts, (TAAAA)(n) and rs1799941 genotypes were associated with serum levels of SHBG (P < 0.001), dihydrotestosterone (P < 0.05), and 5alpha-androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol glucuronides (P < 0.05). In the elderly men, they were also associated with testosterone and BMD at all hip bone sites. The genotype associated with high levels of SHBG was also associated with high BMD. Interestingly, male mice overexpressing human SHBG had increased cortical bone mineral content in the femur, suggesting that elevated SHBG levels may cause increased bone mass. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that polymorphisms in the SHBG promoter predict serum levels of SHBG, androgens, and glucuronidated androgen metabolites, and hip BMD in men.
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| 5. |
- Frøbert, Anne Mette, et al.
(författare)
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Differential Changes in Circulating Steroid Hormones in Hibernating Brown Bears : Preliminary Conclusions and Caveats
- 2022
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Ingår i: Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. - : University of Chicago Press. - 1522-2152 .- 1537-5293. ; 95:5, s. 365-378
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Brown bears are obese when they enter the den, and after 6 mo of hibernation and physical inactivity, bears show none of the adverse consequences of a sedentary lifestyle in humans, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and kidney failure. The metabolic mechanisms that drive hibernation physiology in bears are poorly defined, but systemic endocrine regulators are likely involved. To investigate the potential role of steroid hormones, we quantified the total levels of 12 steroid hormones, the precursor cholesterol, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and corticosterone-binding globulin (CBG) in paired serum samples from subadult free-ranging Scandinavian brown bears during the active and hibernation states. During hibernation, androstenedione and testosterone were significantly decreased in subadult female bears (n=13), whereas they increased in all males but one (n=6) and therefore did not reach a significant difference. Despite this difference, SHBG increased more than 20-fold during hibernation for all bears. Compared with SHBG concentrations in humans, bear levels were very low in the active state, but during hibernation, levels equaled high levels in humans. The increased SHBG levels likely maintain a state of relative quiescence of the reproductive hormones in hibernating bears. Interestingly, the combination of SHBG and testosterone levels results in similar free bioavailable testosterone levels of 70-80 pM in both subadult and adult sexually active male bears, suggesting a role for SHBG in controlling androgen action during hibernation in males. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, dihydrotestosterone, and estradiol levels were below the detection limit in all but one animal. The metabolically active glucocorticoids were significantly higher in both sexes during hibernation, whereas the inactive metabolite cortisone was reduced and CBG was low approaching the detection limit. A potential caveat is that the glucocorticoid levels might be affected by the ketamine applied in the anesthetic mixture for hibernating bears. However, increased hibernating cortisol levels have consistently been reported in both black bears and brown bears. Thus, we suggest that high glucocorticoid activity may support the hibernation state, likely serving to promote lipolysis and gluconeogenesis while limiting tissue glucose uptake to maintain a continuous glucose supply to the brain.
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| 6. |
- Mette Frøbert, Anne, et al.
(författare)
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Characterization and comparison of recombinant full-length ursine and human sex hormone-binding globulin
- 2022
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Ingår i: FEBS Open Bio. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2211-5463. ; 12:2, s. 362-378
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) regulates the bioavailability of sex steroid hormones in the blood. Levels of SHBG increase markedly in brown bears (Ursus arctos) during hibernation, suggesting that a key regulatory role of this protein is to quench sex steroid bioavailability in hibernation physiology. To enable characterization of ursine SHBG and a cross species comparison, we established an insect cell-based expression system for recombinant full-length ursine and human SHBG. Compared with human SHBG, we observed markedly lower secretion levels of ursine SHBG, resulting in a 10-fold difference in purified protein yield. Both human and ursine recombinant SHBG appeared as dimeric proteins in solution, with a single unfolding temperature of ~58 °C. The thermal stability of ursine and human SHBG increased 5.4 and 9.5 °C, respectively, in presence of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), suggesting a difference in affinity. The dissociation constants for [3 H]DHT were determined to 0.21±0.04 nM for human and 1.32±0.10 nM for ursine SHBG, confirming a lower affinity of ursine SHBG. A similarly reduced affinity, determined from competitive steroid binding, was observed for most steroids. Overall, we found that ursine SHBG had similar characteristics to human SHBG, specifically, being a homodimeric glycoprotein capable of binding steroids with high affinity. Therefore, ursine SHBG likely has similar biological functions to those known for human SHBG. The determined properties of ursine SHBG will contribute to elucidating its potential regulatory role in hibernation physiology.
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| 7. |
- Van Raamsdonk, Jeremy M., et al.
(författare)
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Testicular degeneration in Huntington disease
- 2007
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961. ; 26:3, s. 512-520
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Huntington disease (HD) is an adult onset, neurodegenerative disorder that results from CAG expansion in the HD gene. Recent work has demonstrated testicular degeneration in mouse models of HD and alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis in HD patients. Here, we show that HD patients have specific testicular pathology with reduced numbers of germ cells and abnormal seminiferous tubule morphology. In the YAC128 mouse model, testicular degeneration develops prior to 12 months of age, but at 12 months, there is no evidence for decreased testosterone levels or loss of GnRH neurons in the hypothalamus. This suggests that testicular pathology results from a direct toxic effect of mutant huntingtin in the testis and is supported by the fact that huntingtin is highly expressed in the affected cell populations in the testis. Understanding the pathogenesis of HD in the testis may reveal common critical pathways which lead to degeneration in both the brain and testis.
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