Cross-sex Hormone Therapy and Neuronal Plasticity

Gender Dysphoria Clinical Trial

Official title: Neuroactive Sex Steroids And Their Influence In Glutamatergic Neurotransmission - Effects in Memory and Cognition in Transgender People

Status Recruiting

Clinical Trial Summary

Transgender women (male-to-female) were invited to participate in this study to test the impact of Cross-Sex Hormone Therapy (CSHT) in the brain.

Neuroimaging and cognitive assessment were performed in different time-points to compare the impact of CSHT in the brain.

Clinical Trial Description

Sex hormones are known to exert several effect on the brain white matter, cerebral cortex, functional connectivity and neurotransmission. Furthermore, in transgender people, CSHT is know to induce anatomical and functional changes in the brain. However, only a few studies have already been conducted to investigate the effects of sex hormones on the brain accounting for the interference of endogenous gonadal hormones. Also, there is a lack of knowledge about the importance of CSHT after Gender Affirming Surgery (GAS) regarding induced hypogonadism that follows this surgical procedure. Therefore, neuroimaging studies designed to isolate the effect of endogenous gonadal hormones in people with GD urge to be developed.

To fulfil this purpose, transgender women that have already performed GAS and/or were under Gonadotrophin Release Hormone analogues treatment (in order to induce hypogonadism similar to GAS) were invited to interrupt CSHT for at least 30 days to promote sex hormones washout. At the end of the washout, participants performed magnetic resonance imaging, laboratorial analyses for sex hormones and neuro-cognitive assessment. After this first time-point, participants received a new prescription for CSHT containing estradiol (without progesterone) to be used continuously for 60 days, when the same assessments from the end of washout were repeated 60 days after CSHT to compare brain and cognitive longitudinal changes.

At all the time-points, variations in depression scores and anxiety levels were assessed with specific scales. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Gender Dysphoria

• NCT number: NCT03651427
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre
• Contact: Maiko Schneider, MD
• Phone: 5551997722606
• Email: maikoschneider@hcpa.edu.br
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: February 13, 2017
• Completion date: March 30, 2019