Hormones impact every organ in your body, including your liver. Until recently, however, there wasn’t much focus placed on how age-related hormone changes could impact liver health. Now, clinical research has begun to look into the connection between the two to find new ways of treating or even preventing liver disease.
Estrogen is a group of primary sex hormones that are responsible for the development and regulation of the reproductive system. Estrogen has been found to protect the liver from metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, which occurs when excess fat builds up in the organ.
Women benefit from this natural protection until estrogen levels begin to plummet during menopause. Those who begin menopause early (between 40 and 44) have a much higher risk of developing fatty liver disease.
Not having estrogen’s protection can result in worsening liver scarring (fibrosis), but hormone replacement therapy assists in improving liver markers. Clinical research trials are ongoing to see what the real-life results of hormone replacement are on liver health.
Testosterone is a vital sex hormone that regulates reproductive health, bone strength, sex drive, and muscle mass. Both men and women produce testosterone, though the levels are much higher in men.
As men age, their testosterone levels begin to drop. As this happens, the risk of developing fatty liver disease spikes. Low testosterone can cause insulin resistance, triggering the storage of extra fat inside liver cells.
Crucially, a liver that isn’t functioning at its best will impact testosterone production. The liver makes certain proteins, like albumin and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), which are essential for carrying testosterone throughout the bloodstream. A damaged liver will also break testosterone down too quickly. The process becomes a vicious cycle that further diminishes access to testosterone.
As you age, the liver begins to experience cellular stress. The organ’s ability to respond to hormones decreases because this stress reduces the expression of hormone receptors.
One of the issues that can arise is insulin resistance. A drop in cellular energy efficiency, which is normal with aging, can cause metabolic stress and poor glucose handling. The excess carbohydrates and sugars (which the body doesn’t use as effectively for muscle growth after a certain age) are redirected to the liver. The liver turns these extra sugars into fat, which can cause fatty liver disease and insulin resistance.
To make matters worse, aging and an increase in abdominal fat can lower levels of adiponectin, which is a protective hormone that helps to maintain insulin sensitivity.
Aging men and women also experience higher levels of cortisol. Cortisol impacts all organs, and the liver is no exception. This hormone can cause chronic inflammation and can reduce how well the body responds to insulin, making it harder for cells to absorb sugars, leading to fat storage.
Chronically high cortisol levels, which can become an issue with age, release free fatty acids from fat tissue, which flood into the liver. The inflammation and fat buildup can cause or worsen liver disease.
Why Liver Health Can Be Easy to Overlook
Fatty liver disease often develops without noticeable symptoms, so changes in liver health may go undetected for years. Hormone levels are only part of the picture: insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and other metabolic factors can also affect a person’s risk.
A clinician may review medical history, blood tests, and imaging to assess whether fat has built up in the liver and whether further evaluation is needed. Understanding how hormones and metabolic health interact could help researchers identify who is most at risk and determine which treatments may work best at different stages of life.
At Orlando Clinical Research Center, we are proud to further the effort of finding ways of addressing liver disease. We provide state-of-the-art facilities for conducting Phase I-IV clinical trials for testing medications being manufactured by biotech and pharmaceutical companies. We are currently running a variety of clinical studies focused on liver health issues.
If you are planning your next trial or would like to participate in one of the studies we host, contact us to speak with our team about your options.
