Associations Between Genetically Predicted Sex and Growth Hormones and Facial Aging in the UK Biobank: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study

This study used a two-sample Mendelian randomization approach to analyze data from 432,999 UK Biobank samples to investigate the role of sex and growth hormones in facial aging. The results indicated that sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) promotes facial aging, while sex steroid hormones (total testosterone, bioavailable testosterone, and estradiol) inhibit it. Growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 levels showed no significant effect on facial aging, contrary to previous in vitro findings. The study suggests that regulating SHBG, BT, TT, and E2 levels could be crucial in delaying facial aging.