Abstract

Gender identity refers to the consciousness of being a man, a woman or other condition. Although it is generally congruent with the sex assigned at birth, for some people it is not. If the incongruity is distressing, it is defined as gender dysphoria (GD). Here, we measured whole-genome DNA methylation by the Illumina © Infinium Human Methylation 850k array and reported its correlation with cortical thickness (CTh) in 22 transgender men (TM) experiencing GD versus 25 cisgender men (CM) and 28 cisgender women (CW). With respect to the methylation analysis, TM vs. CW showed significant differences in 35 CpGs, while 2155 CpGs were found when TM vs. CM were compared. With respect to correlation analysis, TM showed differences in methylation of CBLL1 and DLG1 genes that correlated with global and left hemisphere CTh. Both genes were hypomethylated in TM compared to the cisgender groups. Early onset TM showed a positive correlation between CBLL1 and several cortical regions in the frontal (left caudal middle frontal), temporal (right inferior temporal, left fusiform) and parietal cortices (left supramarginal and right paracentral). This is the first study relating CBLL1 methylation with CTh in transgender persons and supports a neurodevelopmental hypothesis of gender identity.

Details

Title
CBLL1 is hypomethylated and correlates with cortical thickness in transgender men before gender affirming hormone treatment
Author
Fernández, Rosa 1 ; Zubiaurre-Elorza, Leire 2 ; Santisteban, Andrea 3 ; Ojeda, Natalia 2 ; Collet, Sarah 4 ; Kiyar, Meltem 5 ; T’Sjoen, Guy 6 ; Mueller, Sven C. 5 ; Guillamon, Antonio 7 ; Pásaro, Eduardo 1 

 Universidade da Coruña, Grupo DICOMOSA, Centro Interdisciplinar de Química E Bioloxía - CICA. Departamento de Psicología, A Coruña, Spain (GRID:grid.8073.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2176 8535); Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de A Coruña (INIBIC), Oza, A Coruña, Spain (GRID:grid.488921.e) 
 Universidad de Deusto, Departamento de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Bilbao, Spain (GRID:grid.14724.34) (ISNI:0000 0001 0941 7046) 
 Universidade da Coruña, Grupo DICOMOSA, Centro Interdisciplinar de Química E Bioloxía - CICA. Departamento de Psicología, A Coruña, Spain (GRID:grid.8073.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2176 8535) 
 Ghent University Hospital, Department of Endocrinology, Ghent, Belgium (GRID:grid.410566.0) (ISNI:0000 0004 0626 3303) 
 Ghent University, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent, Belgium (GRID:grid.5342.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2069 7798) 
 Ghent University Hospital, Department of Endocrinology, Center for Sexology and Gender, Ghent, Belgium (GRID:grid.410566.0) (ISNI:0000 0004 0626 3303) 
 Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Departamento de Psicobiología, Facultad de Psicología, Madrid, Spain (GRID:grid.10702.34) (ISNI:0000 0001 2308 8920) 
Pages
21609
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2899188726
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.