Researchers Discover Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin Shows Link to Fracture Risk in Older Men

Researchers from the University of Gothenburg and other sites in Sweden, along with researchers from Portland, Ore. and Quebec, conducted a study to examine the role of serum sex steroids in fracture risk among men. The study included 2,639 men with a mean age of 75 years from MrOS Sweden, a prospective, population-based cohort. The researchers used a specific gas chromatography–mass spectrometry technique to analyze sex steroids at baseline. After baseline, the incidence of at least one fracture was 20.9 per 1,000 person-years. The researchers found an inverse relationship between fracture risk and estradiol (HR per standard deviation decrease=1.34), free estradiol (HR per SD decrease=1.41), testosterone (HR per SD decrease=1.27), and free testosterone (HR per SD decrease=1.32). However, sex hormone–binding globulin was directly related to fracture risk (HR per SD decrease=1.41), according to the researchers.