Rodent Model of Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapies as Specific Tool for Identifying Susceptibility and Vulnerability of Transgender People and Future Applications for Risk Assessment

Roberta Tassinari and Francesca Maranghi
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Roberta Tassinari: Center for Gender-Specific Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
Francesca Maranghi: Center for Gender-Specific Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 23, 1-14

Abstract: Transgenders (TGs) are individuals with gender identity and behaviour different from the social norms; they often undergo gender-affirming hormone therapy (HT). HT for TG men involves testosterone treatment and, for TG women, oestrogen plus androgen-lowering agents. Due—but not limited—to the lifelong lasting HT, usually TG people experience several physical and behavioural conditions leading to different and specific susceptibility and vulnerability in comparison to general population, including the response to chemical contaminants present in daily life. In particular, the exposure to the widespread endocrine disrupters (EDs) may affect hormonal and metabolic processes, leading to tissue and organ damage. Since the endocrine system of TG people is overstimulated by HT and, often, the targets overlap with ED, it is reasonable to hypothesize that TG health deserves special attention. At present, no specific tools are available to study the toxicological effects of environmental contaminants, including EDs, and the potential long-term consequences of HT on TG people. In this context, the development of adequate and innovative animal models to mimic gender-affirming HT have a high priority, since they can provide robust data for hazard identification in TG women and men, leading to more reliable risk assessment.

Keywords: transgender; in vivo study; gender dysphoria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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