Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2011) 26 P555

ECE2011 Poster Presentations Cardiovascular endocrinology and lipid metabolism (34 abstracts)

Polycystic ovary syndrome and their relationship with metabolic syndrome in female-to-male transsexuals

Antonio Becerra 1, , Gilberto Perez Lopez 2 , Miriam Menacho 3 , Jose Miguel Rodriguez Molina 1, , M Jesus Lucio 1 & Nuria Asenjo 1


1Gender Unit, Hospital Universitario Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain; 2Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Universitario Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain; 3Department of Biochemistry, Hospital Universitario Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain; 4University of Alcala, Madrid, Spain; 5Autonomous University, Madrid, Spain.


Objective: To determine the prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and hyperandrogenism and their relationships with metabolic syndrome (MS) parameters in female-to-male transsexuals (FMT).

Design and methods: Seventy-seven FMT were assessed clinically and biochemically to hyperandrogenism, before the beginning of the treatment with testosterone. We also assessed cardiovascular risk factors and other parameters of MS.

Results: 26.0% of the sample had overweight, and 19.5% were obese patients. The prevalence of hyperandrogenism was 49.35% and those of PCOS was 36.4 and 51.9% of patients had MS. By adjusting the parameters of MS and PCOS, for the body mass index (BMI), we observed that the higher BMI, regardless of the concentrations of free testosterone (FT), increases insulin resistance (HOMA-IR 2.43 vs 2.93 vs 3.85, P<0.001). Of all patients, 27.3% had HDL-cholesterol below 50 mg/dl.

Conclusions: The general hyperandrogenism, and PCOS in particular, are highly prevalent in FMT. The high prevalence of PCOS appears to be related to body weight. The hyperandrogenism is associated with the development of MS, and other factors such as insulin resistance and decreased HDL-C, which globally increase the cardiovascular risk. These data suggest that gender dysphoria at least in FMT could be related to hyperandrogenism secondary to hyperadrenal axis activation and/or gonadal, although many studies assess these phenomena as the cause of these disorders.

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