ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The organ-specific effects of gender-affirming sex hormone treatment (GAHT) in transgender women (TW) and transgender men (TM) are insufficiently explored. This study investigated the effects of GAHT on adipose tissue function. METHODS: In a single-center interventional prospective study, 32 adults undergoing GAHT, 15 TW and 17 TM, were examined with anthropometry and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies obtained before initiation of treatment, 1 month after endogenous sex hormone inhibition and three and 11 months after initiated GAHT. Fat cell size, basal/stimulated lipolysis and cytokine secretion in adipose tissue were analyzed. RESULTS: TW displayed an increase in complement component 3a and retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) secretion after sex hormone inhibition, which returned to baseline following estradiol treatment. No changes in lipolysis were seen in TW. TM showed downregulation of RBP4 after treatment, but no changes in basal lipolysis. In TM, the estrogen suppression led to higher noradrenaline stimulated (NA) lipolysis that was normalized following testosterone treatment. At 11 months, the ratio of NA/basal lipolysis was lower compared to baseline. There were no significant changes in fat cell size in either TW or TM. CONCLUSION: In TW, gonadal hormone suppression results in transient changes in cytokines and in TM there are some changes in NA-stimulated lipolysis following testosterone treatment. However, despite the known metabolic effects of sex hormones, the overall effects of GAHT on adipose tissue function are small and likely have limited clinical relevance, but larger studies with longer follow-up are needed to confirm these findings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02518009, Retrospectively registered 7 August 2015.
ABSTRACT
Characterization of RuO(2) and TiO(2) sols of different aging times, obtained by forced hydrolysis of appropriate chloride salts, was performed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The aging time of TiO(2) sols was observed to affect the size of particles as well as the crystallinity of the solid phase of the sols. The surface morphology of RuO(2)-TiO(2) coatings on titanium, obtained by the sol-gel procedure using TiO(2) sols of different aging times and RuO(2) sol of fixed aging time, was investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at three different scan sizes. The STM data indicated uniform microdistribution of the coating material (small microroughness) and an increase in nanoroughness with the aging time of the TiO(2) sol. The observed increase in real coating surface area with increasing TiO(2) particle size confirms the earlier cyclic voltammetry results.
