Higher Estradiol, Longer Telomeres in Men

[Jinzang]

A press release from the university that conducted the study was reported by Medical Xpress. Here's a short extract from the article:

"A new study of older men carried out by The University of Western Australia has found there is a link between men who have higher levels of the sex hormone estradiol, produced from testosterone, and slower ageing.

"The researchers collected data from 2913 men in Perth aged between 70 and 89 and measured both testosterone and estradiol levels in their blood. The length of telomeres in their DNA from white cells was also measured. The lead scientist of the study, Professor Bu Yeap from the UWA Medical School, said the researchers found a correlation between higher estradiol levels and longer telomeres.

"'The research suggests higher testosterone levels in older men, which is then converted to estradiol, might sustain youthfulness,' Professor Yeap said.

 

[Cataceous]

They did use mass spectrometry to test estradiol, and importantly, they "adjusted for age, cardiometabolic risk factors and cardiovascular disease history." This would presumably keep overweight/obese individuals from skewing the results with their naturally higher estradiol.

Also of interest in the abstract: "SHBG is inversely associated" with telomere length. You'd think that adjusting for "cardiometabolic risk factors" might reduce the lower-SHBG cohort, and this is saying that higher SHBG isn't good either. Mid-range is best?

 

[Cataceous]

Just noticed that the title of the thread should be corrected to "estradiol": "In older men, neither T nor DHT are associated with [telomere length] while E2 is independently associated with [telomere length]".

 

[Nelson Vergel]

We also have this one:

Testosterone/Estradiol Ratio Correlated with Telomere Length

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Can Lowering Estradiol Too Much Accelerate Aging?

DHT and estradiol correlate to slowdown of biological aging

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Sleep and Telomere Length: Does Mild Chronic Sleep Loss Shorten Telomeres: and our lives?

 

[Jinzang]

Just noticed that the title of the thread should be corrected to "estradiol".

The title reflects the title of the Medical Xpress article, "Could higher levels of testosterone hold the key to slower aging?"

 

[Cataceous]

The title reflects the title of the Medical Xpress article, "Could higher levels of testosterone hold the key to slower aging?"

Probably to generate more clicks than if they said "estradiol". But it's puzzling that there was not an association with testosterone, because testosterone should correlate with estradiol.

 

[Gianluca]

interesting, so all the anti AI movement has been doing it right, probably better to leave E2 alone unless really noticeable side effects are seen

 

[Mountain Man]

interesting, so all the anti AI movement has been doing it right, probably better to leave E2 alone unless really noticeable side effects are seen

I am with Abraham Morgantaler’s clinic in Boston and he believes E2 should be left alone except in rare cases when a guy is symptomatic. In fact, he doesn’t believe the sensitive estrodiol test is even necessary. My E2 is near the high end of the standard test and he said that was great.

 

[DragonBits]

Unfortunately, the article is useless without telling anyone what level of E2 is higher? But it makes it easier to write the abstract if you don’t include numbers. Men aged 70-89 not on TRT are going to have really lower testosterone, and thus lower E2, how low, even if the ratio might change to favor E2, it’s still lower than in men on TRT and with higher T. But you don’t often see the actual data.

If my E2 gets too high I gain water weight and my blood pressure goes up. Too high? I don’t know exactly, maybe >40 pg/ml. I am pretty good at 27 pg/ml.

Nelson’s link.

Can Lowering Estradiol Too Much Accelerate Aging?

Can Lowering Estradiol Too Much Accelerate Aging?

From the data on the link.

(E2 59.3 vs 68.6 pmol/L, p<0.0001; T/S ratio 1.54 vs 1.62, p=0.045), rs10046 C (60.5 vs 68.1 pmol/L, p=0.0005, 1.54 vs 1.62, p=0.035) and rs700518 A (59.9 vs 68.9 pmol/L, p<0.0001, 1.54 vs 1.63, p=0.020).

Such a string of data, but if I read the information and did the conversion on links Nelson provided on E2 and telomere length correctly, then low E2 was 16 pg/ml and high E2 was 18.5 pg/ml. And the T/E ratios were 1.54 Vs 1.62. The higher level of 18.5 pg/ml E2 being better. High E2 in the sense high enough for longer telomere length, not that I think 18.5 pg/ml is really high.

Nelson, am I correct about this? I need an E2 of 18.5 pg/ml to max out telomere length?

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Cross‐sectional associations of sex hormones with leucocyte telomere length, a marker of biological age, in a community‐based cohort of older men

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cen.13918

Context
Telomeres protect chromosomes from damage, and shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a marker of advancing biological age. The association between testosterone (T) and its bioactive metabolites, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and oestradiol (E2) with telomere length, particularly in older men, is uncertain. The study aimed to clarify associations of sex hormones with LTL in older men.

Participants and methods
We used cross‐sectional data from 2913 men aged 76.7 ± 3.2 years with morning blood samples assayed for T, DHT, E2 (mass spectrometry), and sex hormone‐binding globulin (SHBG, immunoassay), to correlate sex hormones with LTL measured using PCR and expressed as T/S ratio in multivariable linear regression models adjusted for age, cardiometabolic risk factors and cardiovascular disease history.

Results
Average difference per decade of age was T −0.46 nmol/L, DHT −0.11 nmol/L, E2 −7.5 pmol/L, SHBG +10.2 nmol/L and LTL (T/S ratio) −0.065. E2 correlated with T/S ratio (r = 0.038, P = 0.039) and SHBG was inversely correlated (r = −0.053, P = 0.004). After multivariable adjustment, E2 was associated with T/S ratio (per 1 SD increase E2: coefficient 0.011, P = 0.043), T and DHT were not associated. When E2 and SHBG were simultaneously included, E2 remained positively (coefficient 0.014, P = 0.014) and SHBG inversely (coefficient −0.013, P = 0.037) associated with T/S ratio.

Conclusions
In older men, neither T nor DHT is associated with LTL while E2 is independently associated with LTL and SHBG is inversely associated, thus relating sex hormone exposure to lower biological age. Further research is needed to determine causality and clarify the role of sex hormones in male ageing.