Abstract
Assessing prenatal and neonatal gonadal steroid exposure for studies of human development: methodological and theoretical challenges.
Highlights
The design and interpretation of studies may be impacted by widespread acceptance of conceptual frameworks that are not well supported empirically
A second example: it is generally accepted that masculinization of the human brain is primarily mediated by the androgen receptor [in contrast to rodents where the estrogen receptor plays a major role [8]], in part because chromosomal males with complete androgen insensitivity (CAIS) generally espouse a female gender identity [9]
In terms of matrices used for the determination of testosterone exposure, Hollier et al [11] review umbilical cord blood and Voegtline and Granger [12] review saliva
Summary
The design and interpretation of studies may be impacted by widespread acceptance of conceptual frameworks that are not well supported empirically. The aim of this research topic is to gather together experimental and review papers, which address the diverse challenges in assessing prenatal and neonatal gonadal steroid exposure for studies of human development with the expectation that this will allow more critical appraisal of existing studies, identify critical research gaps, and improve the design of future studies. In the realm of measurement, Manning et al [13] and Honekopp [14] focus on a widely used anthropometric index of prenatal testosterone exposure, the relative lengths of the second and fourth digits (2D:4D ratio).
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