In the transcriptomes of sterile fish, seven genes showed the greatest upregulation and played important roles in steroid biosynthesis and in the Jak-stat signaling pathway: CYP11A1, CYP11B2, CYP17, CYP21, HSD3B, BCL2L1, and PRLR. Other researchers have confirmed that the variation in the expression of genes for steroid biosynthesis can affect hormone levels and cause metabolic disorders. Here, CYP11A1 is linked to metabolic disease.