Problems and prospects of molecular psychogenetics in the study of transsexsualism

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Resumo

The etiology of transsexualism remains unknown to this day, as this disease is multifactorial and is caused by a complex of factors influencing the sexual differentiation of brain tissue during fetal development. It has been shown that sexual differentiation of the brain occurs at a much later stage of development than sexual differentiation of the genitals; these two processes are influenced independently of each other. Various sexual characteristics, such as gender identity (identification of oneself as a male or female role), sexual orientation (heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality), as well as the risks of developing neuropsychiatric disorders, are programmed in the brain at an early stage of development. It has been established that the structure of some areas of the brain in individuals with transsexualism differs from the structure of the corresponding areas of the brain in cisgender men and women and is close to (although not identical to) the structure of these areas in people of the opposite anatomical and genetic sex. It is shown that various effects of physiologically active substances on the developing brain result in irreversible or partially reversible modification of its neurochemical systems. Family studies have confirmed the role of genetic factors in gender identity disorders. The review provides a detailed analysis of known loci of candidate genes presumably associated with transsexualism. It is shown that for most candidate genes both positive and negative correlations with transsexualism were revealed, while for other markers no positive associations were found. The inconsistency of the research results may be due to several factors, such as the “blurred” samples of transsexuals, the choice of neutral markers that do not have functionally significant polymorphisms affecting the expression and functionality of these genes, etc. The review presents current data on the problem of transsexualism; possible prospects for further scientific research of this phenomenon at the genetic level are also outlined for the purpose of practical application in the process of diagnosis verification.

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Sobre autores

A. Zhukovskii

Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Autor responsável pela correspondência
Email: ao.zhukovskii@yandex.ru
Rússia, Moscow, 119334

S. Kremenitskaya

Scientific center of personalized medicine

Email: ao.zhukovskii@yandex.ru
Rússia, Moscow, 119021

N. Solovieva

Scientific center of personalized medicine

Email: ao.zhukovskii@yandex.ru
Rússia, Moscow, 119021

A. Ryskov

Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: ao.zhukovskii@yandex.ru
Rússia, Moscow, 119334

V. Vasilyev

Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: ao.zhukovskii@yandex.ru
Rússia, Moscow, 119334

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