Antiandrogens or estradiol treatments or both during hormone replacement therapy in transitioning transgender women

The Scientific and Cultural Journey to Ovarian Rejuvenation: Background, Barriers, and Beyond the Biological Clock

Female age has been known to define reproductive outcome since antiquity; attempts to improve ovarian function may be considered against a sociocultural landscape that foreshadows current practice. Ancient writs heralded the unlikely event of an older woman conceiving as nothing less than miraculous. Always deeply personal and sometimes dynastically pivotal, the goal of achieving pregnancy often engaged elite healers or revered clerics for help. The sorrow of defeat became a potent motif of barrenness or miscarriage lamented in art, music, and literature. Less well known is that rejuvenation practices from the 1900s were not confined to gynecology, as older men also eagerly pursued methods to turn back their biological clock. This interest coalesced within the nascent field of endocrinology, then an emerging specialty. The modern era of molecular science is now offering proof-of-concept evidence to address the once intractable problem of low or absent ovarian reserve. Yet, ovarian rejuvenation by platelet-rich plasma (PRP) originates from a heritage shared with both hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and sex reassignment surgery. These therapeutic ancestors later developed into allied, but now distinct, clinical fields. Here, current iterations of intraovarian PRP are discussed with historical and cultural precursors centering on cell and tissue regenerative effects. Intraovarian PRP thus shows promise for women in menopause as an alternative to conventional HRT, and to those seeking pregnancy—either with advanced reproductive technologies or as unassisted conceptions.

Antiandrogen or estradiol treatment or both during hormone therapy in transitioning transgender women

BACKGROUND

Gender dysphoria is described as a mismatch between an individual's experienced or expressed gender and their assigned gender, based on primary or secondary sexual characteristics. Gender dysphoria can be associated with clinically significant psychological distress and may result in a desire to change sexual characteristics. The process of adapting a person's sexual characteristics to their desired sex is called 'transition.' Current guidelines suggest hormonal and, if needed, surgical intervention to aid transition in transgender women, i.e. persons who aim to transition from male to female. In adults, hormone therapy aims to reverse the body's male attributes and to support the development of female attributes. It usually includes estradiol, antiandrogens, or a combination of both. Many individuals first receive hormone therapy alone, without surgical interventions. However, this is not always sufficient to change such attributes as facial bone structure, breasts, and genitalia, as desired. For these transgender women, surgery may then be used to support transition.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of hormone therapy with antiandrogens, estradiol, or both, compared to each other or placebo, in transgender women in transition.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Embase, Biosis Preview, PsycINFO, and PSYNDEX. We carried out our final searches on 19 December 2019.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We aimed to include randomised controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-RCTs, and cohort studies that enrolled transgender women, age 16 years and over, in transition from male to female. Eligible studies investigated antiandrogen and estradiol hormone therapies alone or in combination, in comparison to another form of the active intervention, or placebo control.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane to establish study eligibility.

MAIN RESULTS

Our database searches identified 1057 references, and after removing duplicates we screened 787 of these. We checked 13 studies for eligibility at the full text screening stage. We excluded 12 studies and identified one as an ongoing study. We did not identify any completed studies that met our inclusion criteria. The single ongoing study is an RCT conducted in Thailand, comparing estradiol valerate plus cyproterone treatment with estradiol valerate plus spironolactone treatment. The primary outcome will be testosterone level at three month follow-up.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

We found insufficient evidence to determine the efficacy or safety of hormonal treatment approaches for transgender women in transition. This lack of studies shows a gap between current clinical practice and clinical research. Robust RCTs and controlled cohort studies are needed to assess the benefits and harms of hormone therapy (used alone or in combination) for transgender women in transition. Studies should specifically focus on short-, medium-, and long-term adverse effects, quality of life, and participant satisfaction with the change in male to female body characteristics of antiandrogen and estradiol therapy alone, and in combination. They should also focus on the relative effects of these hormones when administered orally, transdermally, and intramuscularly. We will include non-controlled cohort studies in the next iteration of this review, as our review has shown that such studies provide the highest quality evidence currently available in the field. We will take into account methodological limitations when doing so.