Characterization of the <sup>1</sup>H-MRS Metabolite Spectra in Transgender Men with Gender Dysphoria and Cisgender People
Much research has been conducted on sexual differences 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...
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MDPI AG
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/12/2623 |
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| author | Sarah Collet Sourav Bhaduri Meltem Kiyar Guy T’Sjoen Sven Mueller Antonio Guillamon |
| author_facet | Sarah Collet Sourav Bhaduri Meltem Kiyar Guy T’Sjoen Sven Mueller Antonio Guillamon |
| author_sort | Sarah Collet |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Much research has been conducted on sexual differences 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 differences at the metabolite level using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (<sup>1</sup>H-MRS) have not been explored in transgender people. In this study, 28 cisgender men (CM) and 34 cisgender women (CW) and 29 transgender men with GD (TMGD) underwent <sup>1</sup>H-MRS at 3 Tesla MRI to characterize common brain metabolites. Specifically, levels of N–acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatine (Cr), glutamate and glutamine (Glx), and myo-inositol + glycine (mI + Gly) were assessed in two brain regions, the amygdala-anterior hippocampus and the lateral parietal cortex. The results indicated a sex-assigned at birth pattern for Cho/Cr in the amygdala of TMGD. In the parietal cortex, a sex-assigned at birth and an intermediate pattern were found. Though assessed post-hoc, exploration of the age of onset of GD in TMGD demonstrated within-group differences in absolute NAA and relative Cho/Cr levels, suggestive for a possible developmental trend. While brain metabolite levels in TMGD resembled those of CW, some interesting findings, such as modulation of metabolite concentrations by age of onset of GD, warrant future inquiry. |
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| format | Article |
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| issn | 2077-0383 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T10:25:03Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
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| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-0dfc01ee54844a1ab13017949df1717f2023-11-22T00:05:19ZengMDPI AGJournal of Clinical Medicine2077-03832021-06-011012262310.3390/jcm10122623Characterization of the <sup>1</sup>H-MRS Metabolite Spectra in Transgender Men with Gender Dysphoria and Cisgender PeopleSarah Collet0Sourav Bhaduri1Meltem Kiyar2Guy T’Sjoen3Sven Mueller4Antonio Guillamon5Department of Endocrinology, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumDepartment of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumDepartment of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumDepartment of Endocrinology, Center for Sexology and Gender, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumDepartment of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumDepartamento de Psicobiología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, 28040 Madrid, SpainMuch research has been conducted on sexual differences 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 differences at the metabolite level using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (<sup>1</sup>H-MRS) have not been explored in transgender people. In this study, 28 cisgender men (CM) and 34 cisgender women (CW) and 29 transgender men with GD (TMGD) underwent <sup>1</sup>H-MRS at 3 Tesla MRI to characterize common brain metabolites. Specifically, levels of N–acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatine (Cr), glutamate and glutamine (Glx), and myo-inositol + glycine (mI + Gly) were assessed in two brain regions, the amygdala-anterior hippocampus and the lateral parietal cortex. The results indicated a sex-assigned at birth pattern for Cho/Cr in the amygdala of TMGD. In the parietal cortex, a sex-assigned at birth and an intermediate pattern were found. Though assessed post-hoc, exploration of the age of onset of GD in TMGD demonstrated within-group differences in absolute NAA and relative Cho/Cr levels, suggestive for a possible developmental trend. While brain metabolite levels in TMGD resembled those of CW, some interesting findings, such as modulation of metabolite concentrations by age of onset of GD, warrant future inquiry.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/12/2623transgender menneuroimagingmagnetic resonance spectroscopysex differencescreatinemyo-inositol |
| spellingShingle | Sarah Collet Sourav Bhaduri Meltem Kiyar Guy T’Sjoen Sven Mueller Antonio Guillamon Characterization of the <sup>1</sup>H-MRS Metabolite Spectra in Transgender Men with Gender Dysphoria and Cisgender People Journal of Clinical Medicine transgender men neuroimaging magnetic resonance spectroscopy sex differences creatine myo-inositol |
| title | Characterization of the <sup>1</sup>H-MRS Metabolite Spectra in Transgender Men with Gender Dysphoria and Cisgender People |
| title_full | Characterization of the <sup>1</sup>H-MRS Metabolite Spectra in Transgender Men with Gender Dysphoria and Cisgender People |
| title_fullStr | Characterization of the <sup>1</sup>H-MRS Metabolite Spectra in Transgender Men with Gender Dysphoria and Cisgender People |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterization of the <sup>1</sup>H-MRS Metabolite Spectra in Transgender Men with Gender Dysphoria and Cisgender People |
| title_short | Characterization of the <sup>1</sup>H-MRS Metabolite Spectra in Transgender Men with Gender Dysphoria and Cisgender People |
| title_sort | characterization of the sup 1 sup h mrs metabolite spectra in transgender men with gender dysphoria and cisgender people |
| topic | transgender men neuroimaging magnetic resonance spectroscopy sex differences creatine myo-inositol |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/12/2623 |
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