Paper Title

Cross-sex hormone treatment in male-to-female transsexual persons reduces serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)

Authors

Profile picture of Peer Briken
Peer Briken
Profile picture of Johannes FUSS
Johannes FUSS
Profile picture of Matthias K. Auer
Matthias K. Auer
Profile picture of med. Günter K. Stalla
med. Günter K. Stalla
Profile picture of med. Rainer Hellweg
med. Rainer Hellweg
Profile picture of Eva Van Caenegem
Eva Van Caenegem
Profile picture of Guy T'Sjoen
Guy T'Sjoen

Keywords

  • Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
  • BDNF
  • Male-to-Female Transsexual Persons
  • Cross-Sex Hormone Treatment
  • Social Stress
  • Transsexualism
  • Hormonal Treatment
  • Anthropometric Measures
  • Gender Incongruence
  • ENIGI
  • Serum BDNF Levels
  • Biomechanism
  • Risk Factor
  • Hormonal Effects
  • Psychological Impact
  • Gender Identity Research

Journal

European Neuropsychopharmacology External link

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DOI

DOI Icon 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2014.11.019

Publication Info

Volume: 25 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 95-99

Published On

January, 2015

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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.

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