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Early-to-mid gestation fetal testosterone increases right hand 2D:4D finger length ratio in polycystic ovary syndrome-like monkeys.

ABSTRACT: A smaller length ratio for the second relative to the fourth finger (2D:4D) is repeatedly associated with fetal male-typical testosterone (T) and is implicated as a biomarker for a variety of traits and susceptibility to a number of diseases, but no experimental human studies have been performed. The present study utilizes the rhesus monkey, a close relative of humans, and employs discrete gestational exposure of female monkeys to fetal male-typical T levels for 15-35 days during early-to-mid (40-76 days; n?=?7) or late (94-139 days; n?=?7) gestation (term: 165 days) by daily subcutaneous injection of their dams with 10 mg T propionate. Such gestational exposures are known to enhance male-typical behavior. In this study, compared to control females (n?=?19), only early-to-mid gestation T exposure virilizes female external genitalia while increasing 2D:4D ratio in the right hand (RH) by male-like elongation of RH2D. RH2D length and 2D:4D positively correlate with androgen-dependent anogenital distance (AG), and RH2D and AG positively correlate with duration of early-to-mid gestation T exposure. Male monkeys (n?=?9) exhibit a sexually dimorphic 2D:4D in the right foot, but this trait is not emulated by early-to-mid or late gestation T exposed females. X-ray determined phalanx measurements indicate elongated finger and toe phalanx length in males, but no other phalanx-related differences. Discrete T exposure during early-to-mid gestation in female rhesus monkeys thus appears to increase RH2D:4D through right-side biased, non-skeletal tissue growth. As variation in timing and duration of gestational T exposure alter male-like dimensions of RH2D independently of RH4D, postnatal RH2D:4D provides a complex biomarker for fetal T exposure.

SUBMITTER: Abbott AD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3425513 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Early-to-mid gestation fetal testosterone increases right hand 2D:4D finger length ratio in polycystic ovary syndrome-like monkeys.

Abbott Andrew D AD Colman Ricki J RJ Tiefenthaler Ross R Dumesic Daniel A DA Abbott David H DH

PloS one 20120822 8

A smaller length ratio for the second relative to the fourth finger (2D:4D) is repeatedly associated with fetal male-typical testosterone (T) and is implicated as a biomarker for a variety of traits and susceptibility to a number of diseases, but no experimental human studies have been performed. The present study utilizes the rhesus monkey, a close relative of humans, and employs discrete gestational exposure of female monkeys to fetal male-typical T levels for 15-35 days during early-to-mid (4 ...[more]

PMID: 22927929

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Project description:ContextOvarian and adrenal steroidogenesis underlie endocrine-metabolic dysfunction in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Adipocytes express aldo-keto reductase 1C3 and type 1 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, which modulate peripheral androgen and cortisol production.ObjectivesTo compare serum adrenal steroids, including 11-oxygenated androgens (11-oxyandrogens), cortisol, and cortisone between normal-weight women with PCOS and body mass index- and age-matched ovulatory women with normal-androgenic profiles (controls), and assess whether adrenal steroids associate with abdominal adipose deposition.DesignProspective, cross-sectional, cohort study.SettingAcademic medical center.PatientsTwenty normal-weight women with PCOS and 20 body mass index-/age-matched controls.InterventionsBlood sampling, IV glucose tolerance testing, and total-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry.Main outcome measuresClinical characteristics, hormonal concentrations, and body fat distribution.ResultsWomen with PCOS had higher serum total/free testosterone (T) and androstenedione (A4) levels and a greater android/gynoid fat mass than controls (androgens P < .001; android/gynoid fat mass ratio, P = .026). Serum total/free T and A4 levels correlated positively with android/gynoid fat mass ratio in all women combined (P < .025, all values). Serum 11ß-hydroxyA4, 11-ketoA4, 11ß-hydroxyT, 11-ketoT, cortisol, and cortisone levels were comparable between female types and unrelated to body fat distribution. Serum 11-oxyandrogens correlated negatively with % total body fat, but lost significance adjusting for cortisol. Serum cortisol levels, however, correlated inversely with android fat mass (P = .021), with a trend toward reduced serum cortisol to cortisone ratio in women with PCOS vs controls (P = .075), suggesting diminished 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity.ConclusionReduced cortisol may protect against preferential abdominal fat mass in normal-weight PCOS women with normal serum 11-oxyandrogens.

Dataset Information

Early-to-mid gestation fetal testosterone increases right hand 2D:4D finger length ratio in polycystic ovary syndrome-like monkeys.

Publications

Early-to-mid gestation fetal testosterone increases right hand 2D:4D finger length ratio in polycystic ovary syndrome-like monkeys.

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