Cargando…

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Gender Dysphoria

Background: Much research has been conducted on sexual dimorphisms of the human brain to determine whether and to what extent a brain gender exists. Consequently, a variety of studies using different neuroimaging techniques attempted to identify the existence of a brain phenotype in people with gend...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Collet, Sarah Marie, Bhaduri, Sourav, Kiyar, Meltem, Mueller, Sven, T’sjoen, Guy G
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8266152/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/jendso/bvab048.1610
_version_ 1783719884556861440
author Collet, Sarah Marie
Bhaduri, Sourav
Kiyar, Meltem
Mueller, Sven
T’sjoen, Guy G
author_facet Collet, Sarah Marie
Bhaduri, Sourav
Kiyar, Meltem
Mueller, Sven
T’sjoen, Guy G
author_sort Collet, Sarah Marie
collection PubMed
description Background: Much research has been conducted on sexual dimorphisms of the human brain to determine whether and to what extent a brain gender exists. Consequently, a variety of studies using different neuroimaging techniques attempted to identify the existence of a brain phenotype in people with gender dysphoria (GD). However, to date, brain sexual dimorphisms at the metabolite level in transgender people have not been explored using magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS). Methods: In this study, 29 transgender men, 30 cisgender men and 35 cisgender women underwent (1)H-MRS at 3 Tesla MRI to characterize common brain metabolites. Specifically, absolute levels of N –acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatine (Cr), glutamate (Glu), myo-inositol (mI) and their respective ratios were assessed in two brain regions, i.e. the amygdala-anterior hippocampus and the lateral parietal cortex. Influences of nicotine consumption, physical activity, education and psychopathology were considered. Results: The results indicated a sex-assigned at birth pattern for choline and glutamate ratios in the amygdala-anterior hippocampus of trans men. In the lateral parietal cortex cis men and cis women differed in the majority of metabolites (i.e. mI; Cr; NAA/Cr; Cho/Cr; mI/Cr; NAA/mI). Moreover, except for mI, trans men did not differ from either cisgender group, showing a pattern subtly moving towards the experienced gender identity. Post-hoc, careful exploration of the age of onset of GD in transgender men demonstrated the possibility of a developmental trend in absolute NAA levels, as a measure of neuronal function. Conclusion: We found sex-typical (1)H-MRS spectra and they appear to be brain region specific. While the brain metabolite levels in trans men mostly resembled that of cis women, interesting findings such as modulation by age of onset warrant future enquiry to address potential neurobiological underpinnings of GD.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8266152
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Oxford University Press
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-82661522021-07-09 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Gender Dysphoria Collet, Sarah Marie Bhaduri, Sourav Kiyar, Meltem Mueller, Sven T’sjoen, Guy G J Endocr Soc Reproductive Endocrinology Background: Much research has been conducted on sexual dimorphisms of the human brain to determine whether and to what extent a brain gender exists. Consequently, a variety of studies using different neuroimaging techniques attempted to identify the existence of a brain phenotype in people with gender dysphoria (GD). However, to date, brain sexual dimorphisms at the metabolite level in transgender people have not been explored using magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS). Methods: In this study, 29 transgender men, 30 cisgender men and 35 cisgender women underwent (1)H-MRS at 3 Tesla MRI to characterize common brain metabolites. Specifically, absolute levels of N –acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatine (Cr), glutamate (Glu), myo-inositol (mI) and their respective ratios were assessed in two brain regions, i.e. the amygdala-anterior hippocampus and the lateral parietal cortex. Influences of nicotine consumption, physical activity, education and psychopathology were considered. Results: The results indicated a sex-assigned at birth pattern for choline and glutamate ratios in the amygdala-anterior hippocampus of trans men. In the lateral parietal cortex cis men and cis women differed in the majority of metabolites (i.e. mI; Cr; NAA/Cr; Cho/Cr; mI/Cr; NAA/mI). Moreover, except for mI, trans men did not differ from either cisgender group, showing a pattern subtly moving towards the experienced gender identity. Post-hoc, careful exploration of the age of onset of GD in transgender men demonstrated the possibility of a developmental trend in absolute NAA levels, as a measure of neuronal function. Conclusion: We found sex-typical (1)H-MRS spectra and they appear to be brain region specific. While the brain metabolite levels in trans men mostly resembled that of cis women, interesting findings such as modulation by age of onset warrant future enquiry to address potential neurobiological underpinnings of GD. Oxford University Press 2021-05-03 /pmc/articles/PMC8266152/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/jendso/bvab048.1610 Text en © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Endocrine Society. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) ), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
spellingShingle Reproductive Endocrinology
Collet, Sarah Marie
Bhaduri, Sourav
Kiyar, Meltem
Mueller, Sven
T’sjoen, Guy G
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Gender Dysphoria
title Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Gender Dysphoria
title_full Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Gender Dysphoria
title_fullStr Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Gender Dysphoria
title_full_unstemmed Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Gender Dysphoria
title_short Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Gender Dysphoria
title_sort magnetic resonance spectroscopy in gender dysphoria
topic Reproductive Endocrinology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8266152/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/jendso/bvab048.1610
work_keys_str_mv AT colletsarahmarie magneticresonancespectroscopyingenderdysphoria
AT bhadurisourav magneticresonancespectroscopyingenderdysphoria
AT kiyarmeltem magneticresonancespectroscopyingenderdysphoria
AT muellersven magneticresonancespectroscopyingenderdysphoria
AT tsjoenguyg magneticresonancespectroscopyingenderdysphoria