Exogenous Sex Hormone Exposure Research Articles

Glioblastoma in Pregnant Patient with Pathologic and Exogenous Sex Hormone Exposure and Family History of High-Grade Glioma

Please view the PDF to see the formatted meeting abstract.

Women's brain aging: Effects of sex-hormone exposure, pregnancies, and genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Sex hormones such as estrogen fluctuate across the female lifespan, with high levels during reproductive years and natural decline during the transition to menopause. Women's exposure to estrogen may influence their heightened risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) relative to men, but little is known about how it affects normal brain aging. Recent findings from the UK Biobank demonstrate less apparent brain aging in women with a history of multiple childbirths, highlighting a potential link between sex‐hormone exposure and brain aging. We investigated endogenous and exogenous sex‐hormone exposure, genetic risk for AD, and neuroimaging‐derived biomarkers for brain aging in 16,854 middle to older‐aged women. The results showed that as opposed to parity, higher cumulative sex‐hormone exposure was associated with more evident brain aging, indicating that i) high levels of cumulative exposure to sex‐hormones may have adverse effects on the brain, and ii) beneficial effects of pregnancies on the female brain are not solely attributable to modulations in sex‐hormone exposure. In addition, for women using hormonal replacement therapy (HRT), starting treatment earlier was associated with less evident brain aging, but only in women with a genetic risk for AD. Genetic factors may thus contribute to how timing of HRT initiation influences women's brain aging trajectories.

Sex hormone exposure and reproductive factors in pulmonary arterial hypertension: a case-control study.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a sexually dimorphic disease that for unknown reasons affects women more than men. The role of estrogens, both endogenous and exogenous, and reproductive factors in this female susceptibility is still poorly understood. It has been strongly suggested that sex hormones may influence the development and progression of the disease. We sought to determine whether sex hormone exposures and reproductive factors associate with PAH patients compared to control subjects, using a questionnaire and interview to obtain information regarding these potential risk factors. We conducted a single-center unmatched case–control study. Six hundred and thirty-four women and men with PAH, as well as 27 subjects with BMPR2 mutations but no PAH and 132 healthy population controls were enrolled from the Vanderbilt Pulmonary Hypertension Research Cohort and researchmatch.org. Questionnaires and nurse-led interviews were conducted to obtain information regarding sex hormone exposures and reproductive factors. Additional history was obtained on enrolled patients including disease severity variables and comorbidities. Responses to the questionnaires were analyzed to describe these exposures in this population as well as assess the association between disease severity variables and sex hormone exposures. Reproductive and endogenous factors that determine lifelong estrogen exposure were similar between PAH cases and controls. Patients with associated PAH were significantly more likely to be postmenopausal compared to controls. There were similar rates of “ever-use” and duration of use of oral contraceptive pills and hormone replacement therapy in patients when compared to controls. Disease severity variables were not significantly affected by any exposure after adjusting for PAH sub-group. In contrast to our hypothesis, that a greater exposure to exogenous sources of female sex hormones associates with PAH case status, we found similar rates of endogenous and exogenous sex hormone exposure between PAH patients and unmatched controls.

Exogenous Sex Hormone Exposure and the Risk for Major Malformations

Several studies have suggested that maternal use of exogenous sex hormones during early pregnancy may be associated with various congenital malformations. We conducted a case-control study of first-trimester sex hormone exposure among mothers of 1,091 infants with Down syndrome or at least one of 11 major malformations. For each malformation category, the infants with other malformations served as the control group. Associations were found between esophageal atresia and (1) any sex hormone exposure (odds ratio, 2.84); (2) progestins (odds ratio, 2.87); (3) nonspecified sex hormones (odds ratio, 2.99); and (4) hormonal pregnancy tests (odds ratio, 2.81). We found no potentially confounding variables for these associations. We found no statistically significant association between any malformation category and oral contraceptive exposure. Even if the relationship between esophageal atresia and noncontraceptive sex hormone exposure is causal, the absolute risk would be low, on the order of six per 10,000 exposed live births. ( JAMA 1986;255:3128-3132)

Exogenous Sex Hormone Exposure and the Risk for Major Malformations

Birth Defects Branch, Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia J. Am. Med. Assoc. 225: 3128, 1986

Exogenous sex hormone exposure and the risk for VACTERL association.

In several studies investigators have suggested that maternal use of exogenous sex hormones during early pregnancy may be associated with various congenital malformations. A group of malformations, the VACTERL (vertebral, anal, cardiac, trachea, esophageal, renal, limb-acronym) association, has been statistically associated with maternal exposure to exogenous sex hormones during the first trimester of pregnancy. The VACTERL association is a nonrandom group of major malformations that occur together more often than would be expected on the basis of chance. To assess this association, we conducted a case-control study of first-trimester exposure to sex hormones among mothers of 34 infants with the VACTERL association and of 1,024 comparison infants with one or more of ten major malformations or Down syndrome. The study subjects were malformed infants born between July 1970 and June 1979 and registered in a population-based birth defects registry. Information concerning the use of exogenous sex hormones during pregnancy was obtained by systematically interviewing the mothers of the malformed infants. Most of the mothers were interviewed within 6 months of their children's births. Each mother was interviewed within a year of her child's birth. We found an odds ratio of 0.98 (90% confidence limits 0.40, 2.38) for the relationship between VACTERL association and use of any sex hormone in the first trimester of pregnancy. Our study had adequate statistical power to detect a true relative risk of 2.8 or greater.

Exogenous Sex Hormone Exposure and the Risk for Major Malformations

Several studies have suggested that maternal use of exogenous sex hormones during early pregnancy may be associated with various congenital malformations. We conducted a case-control study of first-trimester sex hormone exposure among mothers of 1,091 infants with Down syndrome or at least one of 11 major malformations. For each malformation category, the infants with other malformations served as the control group. Associations were found between esophageal atresia and any sex hormone exposure (odds ratio, 2.84); progestins (odds ratio, 2.87); nonspecified sex hormones (odds ratio, 2.99); and hormonal pregnancy tests (odds ratio, 2.81). We found no potentially confounding variables for these associations. We found no statistically significant association between any malformation category and oral contraceptive exposure. Even if the relationship between esophageal atresia and noncontraceptive sex hormone exposure is causal, the absolute risk would be low, on the order of six per 10,000 exposed live births.

Exogenous sex hormone exposure and the risk for major malformations

Exogenous sex hormone exposure and the risk for major malformations