No “masculinization” effect of a male on birth weight of its female co-twin

Tul, Nataša; Lučovnik, Miha; Novak, Živa; Verdenik, Ivan; Blickstein, Isaac

doi:10.1515/jpm-2011-0233

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…A potential ‘masculinization’ effect with female co‐twins in an FM pair weighing more than a girl in an FF pair has been reported previously . However, similar to the study reported by Tul et al ., we did not find any significant masculinization effect on the birthweight of the female co‐twin …”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 69%

Associations for birthweight of twin pairs in south India

Singh

Nirmalan

2013

J of Obstet and Gynaecol

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 69%

Associations for birthweight of twin pairs in south India

Singh

Nirmalan

2013

J of Obstet and Gynaecol

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“…Some studies have reported that females from OS twin pairs show an increased tooth size (28), adverse anthropometric, and metabolic parameters (15), increased alcohol use disorder symptoms (29), increased risk for alcohol dependence (30), greater sensation seeking (31), and enhanced aggressive behaviors (32) as compared to female twins from SS twin pairs. However, the present literature is far from consistent, and negative reports exist for several traits, including, anthropometric measures (33), birth weight (34), disordered eating (35, 36), and fertility (27). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

A Comparison of Anthropometric, Metabolic, and Reproductive Characteristics of Young Adult Women from Opposite-Sex and Same-Sex Twin Pairs

et al. 2014

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Background: Prenatal exposure to androgens has been linked to masculinization of several traits. We aimed to determine whether putative female intra-uterine exposure to androgens influences anthropometric, metabolic, and reproductive parameters using a twin design.Methods: Two cohorts of Finnish twins born in 1975–1979 and 1983–1987 formed the basis for the longitudinal FinnTwin16 (FT16) and FinnTwin12 (FT12) studies. Self-reported anthropometric characteristics, disease status, and reproductive history were compared between 679 same-sex (SS) and 789 opposite-sex (OS) female twins (mean age ± SD: 34 ± 1.1) from the wave 5 of data collection in FT16. Serum lipid and lipoprotein subclass concentrations measured by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were compared in 226 SS and 169 OS female twins (mean age ± SD: 24 ± 2.1) from the wave 4 of data collection in FT12 and FT16.Results: Anthropometric measures, the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus type 2 did not differ significantly between females from SS and OS twin pairs at age 34. Similarly, the prevalence of infertility, age at first pregnancy and number of induced and spontaneous abortions did not differ significantly between these two groups of women. The serum lipid and lipoprotein profile did not differ between females from SS and OS twins at age 24.Conclusion: We found no evidence that androgen overexposure of the female fetus affects obesity, metabolic profile, or reproductive health in young adult females. However, these results do not exclude the possibility that prenatal androgen exposure in females could be adversely associated with these phenotypes later in life.

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“…Transfer of testosterone is assumed, based on animal studies of intrauterine position, but these studies show that masculinization is most likely for female foetuses that gestate between two male foetuses, with smaller effects for those that gestate next to just one male foetus (Ryan and Vandenbergh, 2002), raising scepticism about sufficient hormone transfer in human pregnancies to affect physiology or behaviour. The literature is far from consistent and recent studies fail to see masculinization for a variety of personality and fertility traits such as anthropometric measures and fertility (Korsoff et al, 2014), birth weight (Sorensen et al, 2013; Tul et al, 2012), eating disorders (Lydecker et al, 2012), and age at menarche (Sorensen et al, 2013). However, the recent review on OS vs SS studies (Tapp et al, 2011) found the most consistent evidence for hormonal transfer in studies investigating cognitive traits in line with recent evidence from clinical studies linking early androgen exposure to spatial abilities (Puts et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Academic performance of opposite-sex and same-sex twins in adolescence: A Danish national cohort study

Ahrenfeldt

Petersen

Johnson

et al. 2015

Hormones and Behavior

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Testosterone is an important hormone in the sexual differentiation of the brain, contributing to differences in cognitive abilities between males and females. For instance, studies in clinical populations such as females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) who are exposed to high levels of androgens in utero support arguments for prenatal testosterone effects on characteristics such as visuospatial cognition and behaviour. The comparison of opposite-sex (OS) and same-sex (SS) twin pairs can be used to help establish the role of prenatal testosterone. However, although some twin studies confirm a masculinizing effect of a male co-twin regarding for instance perception and cognition it remains unclear whether intra-uterine hormone transfer exists in humans. Our aim was to test the potential influences of testosterone on academic performance in OS twins. We compared ninth-grade test scores and teacher ratings of OS (n = 1812) and SS (n = 4054) twins as well as of twins and singletons (n = 13,900) in mathematics, physics/chemistry, Danish, and English. We found that males had significantly higher test scores in mathematics than females (.06–.15 SD), whereas females performed better in Danish (.33–.49 SD), English (.20 SD), and neatness (.45–.64 SD). However, we did not find that OS females performed better in mathematics than SS and singleton females, nor did they perform worse either in Danish or English. Scores for OS and SS males were similar in all topics. In conclusion, this study did not provide evidence for a masculinization of female twins with male co-twins with regard to academic performance in adolescence.

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No “masculinization” effect of a male on birth weight of its female co-twin

Abstract: After exclusion of potential confounders and controlling for chorionicity, parity, and gestational age, our data do not support the presence of a "masculinization" effect on birth weight.

Cited by 9 publications

References 11 publications

Associations for birthweight of twin pairs in south India

Associations for birthweight of twin pairs in south India

A Comparison of Anthropometric, Metabolic, and Reproductive Characteristics of Young Adult Women from Opposite-Sex and Same-Sex Twin Pairs

Academic performance of opposite-sex and same-sex twins in adolescence: A Danish national cohort study

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