{"doi":"10.14814/phy2.15127","title":"Overfeeding‐induced weight gain elicits decreases in sex hormone‐binding globulin in healthy males—Implications for body fat distribution","abstract":"OBJECTIVE: Obesity and upper-body fat elevates cardiometabolic risk. However, mechanisms predisposing to upper-body fat accumulation are not completely understood. In males, low testosterone (T) frequently associates with obesity, and estrogen deficiency may contribute to upper-body adiposity. This study examines the effects of overfeeding-induced weight gain on changes in gonadal hormones in healthy males and its association with regional fat depots. METHODS: ) were overfed for 8 weeks to gain approximately 5% body weight. Changes in total and regional fat depots were assessed using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and abdominal computed tomography scans. Circulating T, estrone (E1), 17-β estradiol (E2), and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) concentrations were measured at baseline and after weight gain. RESULTS: Overfeeding resulted in 3.8 (3.3, 4.9) kg weight gain with increased total body fat. Weight gain did not alter circulating T (p = 0.82), E1 (p = 0.52), or E2 (p = 0.28). However, SHBG decreased (p = 0.04) along with consequent increases in T/SHBG (p = 0.02) and E2/SHBG (p = 0.03) ratios. Importantly, baseline E2/SHBG ratio was inversely associated with increases in upper-body fat mass (ρ = -0.43, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Modest weight gain does not alter circulating gonadal hormones in males but may increase bioavailability of T and E2 via decreases in SHBG. The association between baseline E2/SHBG and regional fat mass suggests that higher levels of bioavailable E2 may protect from upper-body fat accumulation during overfeeding-induced modest weight gain in healthy males. Our study suggests a complex relationship between adipose tissue, gonadal hormones, and fat accumulation in males.","journal":"Physiological Reports","year":2021,"id":201931,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":7,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9553,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2021-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":300048,"name":"Naima Covassin","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":781400,"name":"Fatima H. Sert Kuniyoshi","orcid":"0000-0001-7644-7384","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":781401,"name":"Kara L. Marlatt","orcid":"0000-0001-7721-7900","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":782019,"name":"Abel Romero‐Corral","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":782020,"name":"Diane E. Davison","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":397360,"name":"Ravinder J. Singh","orcid":"0000-0003-4538-6544","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":250541,"name":"Michael D. Jensen","orcid":"0000-0001-5589-8389","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":297937,"name":"Virend K. Somers","orcid":"0000-0003-4045-4341","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":335251,"name":"Prachi Singh","orcid":"0000-0002-7392-9035","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":50,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:51:05.955461Z","pmid":"34877821","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}