La International Journal of Molecular Sciences convoca un Special Issue (ISSN 1422-0067) perteneciente a la sección de Endocrinología Molecular y Metabolismo.
El título del Special Issue es “New Advances in Biochemical Research on Sex, Gender & Gender Incongruence” y las editoras invitadas han sido:
Profesora Dra. Rosa Fernández, compañera del grupo DICOMOSA
Dra. Sarah M. Burke del IDPE, Interdisciplinary Center for Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Special Issue Information
In humans, gender identity and birth-assigned sex are not always congruent. Transgender women have a feminine gender, but they were assigned as male because they were born with male genitalia. Similarly, transgender men have a masculine gender, but they were assigned as female because they were born with female genitalia.
Many transgender and non-binary individuals experience gender dysphoria due to a persistent feeling of sex–gender incongruence. Therefore, they often seek medical treatments, such as gender-affirmative hormone treatment (i.e., testosterone for birth-assigned females, estradiol and androgen blockers for birth-assigned males) to align their bodies with their experienced gender identity. Youth with gender incongruence may receive puberty blockers (GnRHa: gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists) which suppress HPA-axis functioning, which would trigger gonadal hormone production, to prevent any further development of the secondary sex characteristics.
Besides widely recognized beneficial effects on psychosocial functioning and mental health, these hormonal interventions may affect brain structure and function. In addition, they have been suggested to have extensive effects on various physiological and epigenetic processes. However, research on the effects of the medical treatments transgender individuals receive is scarce. For example, much knowledge is still to be gained about the long-term effects of puberty suppression on adolescent brain development and the influence of these treatments on the methylation of the DNA.
This Special Issue welcomes reports of both human and animal hormone manipulation studies that include molecular data. Original research papers as well as reviews may be submitted that add new insights to our current knowledge about the influence of hormonal interventions on the mental and physical health trajectories of people with gender incongruence. We will also include studies that provide more indirect insights into the effects of sex hormones on brain and behavior.
Prof. Dr. Rosa Fernandez
Dr. Sarah M. Burke
Guest Editors
More information in the LINK