Abstract

Background and objectives: The potential association between testosterone therapy and cardiovascular disease remains a topic of debate. While some studies suggest a link between testosterone treatment and heart disease, definitive evidence for a causal relationship is lacking. This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between testosterone gel use and cardiovascular disease, including stroke, coronary heart disease, hypertension, and cardiomyopathy, using a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.
Materials and methods: This study utilized data from Genome-Wide Association Studies and applied MR analysis to assess causal relationships. The primary method was the inverse variance weighted method, with MR-Egger, weighted median, and weighted mode used as complementary methods. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate the robustness of the results.
Results: The inverse variance weighted analysis showed no significant causal link between testosterone gel use and cardiovascular disease risk. Sensitivity analyses revealed no evidence of horizontal pleiotropy or heterogeneity.
Conclusion: The study findings suggest that testosterone treatment does not significantly increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

*Joint first authors.

Author Details

Authors

• Xin-Yang He¹*
• Zhuo-Nan Jia¹*
• Bo-Yu Zhang¹*
• Jian-Zhao Wu¹
• Zi-Zhao Wang¹
• Hai-Peng Zhao¹
• Zi-Xian Yang¹
• Rui Song¹
• Qian Xu²

Departments

• ¹ Basic Medical College of Chengde Medical University and
• ² Department of Biochemistry, Chengde Medical University, Chengde, Hebei, China

Address

Qian Xu, master’s degree
Department of Biochemistry
Chengde Medical University
Chengde 067000, Hebei, China
Email: [email protected]

Citation