Associate Professor UConn Health Farmington, Connecticut, United States
Abstract Authors: Lisa M. Mehlmann1, Prachi Godiwala1,2, Tracy F. Uliasz1, Katie M. Lowther1, Deborah Kaback1
1. Department of Cell Biology, UConn Health, Farmington, CT 06030 2. Center for Advanced Reproductive Services, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UConn Health, Farmington, CT 06030
Abstract Text: Transgender individuals identify with the gender opposite the sex they were assigned at birth. Many transgender people choose to transition medically, which can involve the use of hormone therapy. Transgender males were assigned female at birth but identify as male and the hormone of choice for these individuals is testosterone. Adolescent transgender males may utilize puberty blockers to inhibit puberty until the administration of testosterone is possible. While the consequences of testosterone use on future fertility are becoming better understood, the use of puberty blockers followed by testosterone administration has been less widely studied. We used a mouse model to examine the effects of puberty suppression followed by testosterone use on fertility of female mice. Testosterone administration in adult mice disrupted mouse cyclicity and reduced ovarian weights without affecting follicle counts. Adult mice treated with testosterone ovulated fertilizable eggs when stimulated with eCG and hCG. The GnRH agonist leuprolide acetate (LA) inhibited the onset of puberty when administered to 3-week-old, prepubertal female mice. Ovarian growth was restricted in these mice and their ovaries histologically resembled those of 3-week-old mice. The estrous cycle was suppressed in mice that were treated with LA followed by 8 weekly injections of testosterone and the ovaries from these mice were significantly smaller than those of age-matched controls, resembling those of 3-week-old, prepubertal mice. Detailed histological analysis determined that there were no significant differences in the number of antral or atretic follicles, and antral follicle diameters were similar between LA- and testosterone-treated ovaries compared to those from 3-week-old controls. Moreover, ovaries treated with LA followed by testosterone ovulated similar numbers of developmentally competent eggs as controls, as determined by in vitro fertilization followed by embryo transfer into foster mice. These results demonstrate that overall, ovaries from mice treated with testosterone, with or without prior puberty suppression, are essentially normal. They also suggest that cessation of testosterone prior to ovarian stimulation is not required for obtaining developmentally competent eggs.
