1. Cross-sex hormone treatment in male-to-female transsexual persons reduces serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
- Author
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Matthias K. Auer, Peer Briken, Johannes Fuss, Eva Van Caenegem, Guy T'Sjoen, Günter K. Stalla, and Rainer Hellweg
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Gender Identity Disorder ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,Transgender Persons ,Young Adult ,Sex hormone-binding globulin ,Contraceptive Agents ,Neurotrophic factors ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Humans ,Pharmacology (medical) ,Risk factor ,Cyproterone Acetate ,Biological Psychiatry ,Testosterone ,Retrospective Studies ,Pharmacology ,Social stress ,Brain-derived neurotrophic factor ,Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ,biology ,Anthropometry ,Estradiol ,Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ,Estrogens ,Middle Aged ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Endocrinology ,Neurology ,biology.protein ,Female ,Neurology (clinical) ,Psychology ,Transsexualism ,Hormone ,Follow-Up Studies - Abstract
Serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are reduced in male-to-female transsexual persons (MtF) compared to male controls. It was hypothesized before that this might reflect either an involvement of BDNF in a biomechanism of transsexualism or to be the result of persistent social stress due to the condition. Here, we demonstrate that 12 month of cross-sex hormone treatment reduces serum BDNF levels in male-to-female transsexual persons independent of anthropometric measures. Participants were acquired through the European Network for the Investigation of Gender Incongruence (ENIGI). Reduced serum BDNF in MtF thus seems to be a result of hormonal treatment rather than a consequence or risk factor of transsexualism.
- Published
- 2014