Abstract
Background: Prenatal exposure to androgens has been linked to masculinization of several traits. We aimed to determine whether putative female intra-uterine exposure to androgens influences anthropometric, metabolic, and reproductive parameters using a twin design.Methods: Two cohorts of Finnish twins born in 1975–1979 and 1983–1987 formed the basis for the longitudinal FinnTwin16 (FT16) and FinnTwin12 (FT12) studies. Self-reported anthropometric characteristics, disease status, and reproductive history were compared between 679 same-sex (SS) and 789 opposite-sex (OS) female twins (mean age ± SD: 34 ± 1.1) from the wave 5 of data collection in FT16. Serum lipid and lipoprotein subclass concentrations measured by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were compared in 226 SS and 169 OS female twins (mean age ± SD: 24 ± 2.1) from the wave 4 of data collection in FT12 and FT16.Results: Anthropometric measures, the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus type 2 did not differ significantly between females from SS and OS twin pairs at age 34. Similarly, the prevalence of infertility, age at first pregnancy and number of induced and spontaneous abortions did not differ significantly between these two groups of women. The serum lipid and lipoprotein profile did not differ between females from SS and OS twins at age 24.Conclusion: We found no evidence that androgen overexposure of the female fetus affects obesity, metabolic profile, or reproductive health in young adult females. However, these results do not exclude the possibility that prenatal androgen exposure in females could be adversely associated with these phenotypes later in life.
Highlights
Hyperandrogenism and insulin resistance are key features of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and women with PCOS are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus and the metabolic syndrome [1]
The serum lipid and lipoprotein profile did not differ between females from SS and OS twins at age 24
We found no evidence that androgen overexposure of the female fetus affects obesity, metabolic profile, or reproductive health in young adult females. These results do not exclude the possibility that prenatal androgen exposure in females could be adversely associated with these phenotypes later in life
Summary
Hyperandrogenism and insulin resistance are key features of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and women with PCOS are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus and the metabolic syndrome [1]. Increased ovarian androgen production leads to premature adrenarche, menstrual irregularity, acne, hirsutism, and infertility by means of elevated luteinizing hormone to follicle stimulating hormone production and hyperinsulinemia [2, 3]. In addition to these important reproductive outcomes, hyperandrogenism is associated with an adverse metabolic profile, including obesity, abdominal obesity [4], hypertension [5], insulin resistance [6], type 2 diabetes [7], dyslipidemia [8, 9], and subclinical atherosclerosis leading to increased cardiovascular morbidity [10, 11]. We aimed to determine whether putative female intra-uterine exposure to androgens influences anthropometric, metabolic, and reproductive parameters using a twin design
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