Research progress on the relationship between sex hormone‐binding globulin and male reproductive system diseases

Abstract

Sex hormone-binding globulin, also known as testosterone-estradiol-binding globulin, is a multifunctional protein synthesised by hepatocytes. Sex hormone-binding globulin specifically binds and transports sex hormones to regulate plasma bioactive sex hormone levels and affects their bioavailability. As male sex hormone expression is dominated by testosterone, the binding of sex hormone-binding globulin with testosterone leads to the reduction in bioavailable testosterone, which cannot fulfil its physiological roles, thereby resulting in male infertility, erectile and gonadal dysfunction, prostate cancer and other male reproductive system diseases. Sex hormonebinding globulin may be involved in the pathogenesis of male reproductive system diseases, seriously affecting the quality of life of men. In this article, we review the association between sex hormone-binding globulin and male reproductive system diseases.

Integrated Computational Approaches for Inhibiting Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin in Male Infertility by Screening Potent Phytochemicals

“…SHBG is a plasma glycoprotein secreted by the liver that exists as a homodimer comprising two identical monomers, encoded by the 4 kb SHBG gene located on the short arm of chromosome 17 (p12–p13 bands) that comprises seven introns and eight exons [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. The SHBG gene is translated into a 402 amino-acid protein cleaved to release its 29-amino-acid N-terminal sorting peptide.…”

“…The SHBG gene is translated into a 402 amino-acid protein cleaved to release its 29-amino-acid N-terminal sorting peptide. SHBG homodimers have a sex hormone-binding site created by the two monomers, which form a sandwich-like structure capable of binding a single sex hormone, indicating the requirement of SHBG monomer polymerization for the sex hormone-binding site [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. In the hepatocytes, the SHBG gene’s transcription unit is expressed under the control of a promoter region that is around 800-bp long.…”

“…The SHBG dimer shows a binding affinity towards sex steroids such as testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and estradiol, to a lesser extent. It transports sex hormones, regulating their plasma levels and bioavailability for responsive tissues and, overall, demonstrating SHBG’s ability to orchestrate reproductive function and sexual features in males and females [ 20 , 21 , 25 , 27 ]. SHBG reduces free testosterone levels, inhibiting the biological induction in reproductive organs by sex hormones and impacting normal reproductive system activity.…”

“…Testosterone binding to SHBG reduces its bioavailability, preventing it from completing its physiological functions. This disruption causes male infertility, gonadal and erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer, and several male reproductive system diseases with testosterone-dominated male sex-hormone symptoms [ 21 , 28 ]. However, increased bioavailable testosterone levels result in metabolic and reproductive phenotypes.…”

The impact of asexual trait and porn addiction in a young men healthy cohort

“…Recent studies suggest that erectile function is to be considered a disease with multifactorial pathogenesis, in fact it appears to be associated with multiple risk factors including age, obesity, smoking, alcohol, diabetes, cardiovascular disease or psychological variables (Gul et al., 2021 ; Mauro et al., 2021 ; Wan et al., 2021 ).…”