No association between sex steroids and handedness in humans

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Sex Steroids ◽  
Steroid Hormone ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Elevated Risk ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Left Handed ◽  
Prenatal Hormones ◽  
Physical Disorders

There is ongoing debate about the effect of prenatal hormones on the lateralisation of the developing brain. In humans, there are conflicting theories of how testosterone during development should affect lateralisation. Empirical studies linking prenatal and postnatal testosterone levels to handedness (a proxy for lateralisation) are similarly mixed. In the largest study of the phenomenon to date (n = 9708), I find that, contrary to the prediction of current theories, the testosterone and oestradiol levels of left- and mixed-handed individuals are no different to those of right-handers. This has implications for studies that show elevated risk of hormonal-related mental and physical disorders in left-handed individuals. It also raises questions about whether serum steroid hormone levels are effective proxies for prenatal hormones. To the extent that they are, these results suggest that prenatal steroid hormones may not significantly influence lateralisation of the human brain.

The dare gene: steroid hormone production, olfactory behavior, and neural degeneration in Drosophila

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (20) ◽  
pp. 4591-4602 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.R. Freeman ◽  
A. Dobritsa ◽  
P. Gaines ◽  
W.A. Segraves ◽  
J.R. Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Steroid Hormone ◽  
Larval Instar ◽  
Hormone Production ◽  
Ring Gland ◽  
Olfactory Stimuli ◽  
Steroid Hormone Signaling ◽  
Adrenodoxin Reductase ◽  
Strength Result

Steroid hormones mediate a wide variety of developmental and physiological events in insects, yet little is known about the genetics of insect steroid hormone biosynthesis. Here we describe the Drosophila dare gene, which encodes adrenodoxin reductase (AR). In mammals, AR plays a key role in the synthesis of all steroid hormones. Null mutants of dare undergo developmental arrest during the second larval instar or at the second larval molt, and dare mutants of intermediate severity are delayed in pupariation. These defects are rescued to a high degree by feeding mutant larvae the insect steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone. These data, together with the abundant expression of dare in the two principal steroid biosynthetic tissues, the ring gland and the ovary, argue strongly for a role of dare in steroid hormone production. dare is the first Drosophila gene shown to encode a defined component of the steroid hormone biosynthetic cascade and therefore provides a new tool for the analysis of steroid hormone function. We have explored its role in the adult nervous system and found two striking phenotypes not previously described in mutants affected in steroid hormone signaling. First, we show that mild reductions of dare expression cause abnormal behavioral responses to olfactory stimuli, indicating a requirement for dare in sensory behavior. Then we show that dare mutations of intermediate strength result in rapid, widespread degeneration of the adult nervous system.

scholarly journals Induction of dopa (3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) decarboxylase in blowfly integument by ecdysone. A demonstration of synthesis of the enzyme de novo

1975 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
E G Fragoulis ◽  
C E Sekeris
Keyword(s):  
Enzyme Activity ◽  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Steroid Hormone ◽  
Dopa Decarboxylase ◽  
Double Labelling ◽  
Labelling Technique ◽  
Immune Precipitation ◽  
Enzyme Molecules ◽  
Stimulation Of

The activity of the enzyme dopa (3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) decarboxylase, present in the epidermis cells of blowfly larvae, increases during the late third instar under the influence of the steroid hormone, ecdysone. By using the double-labelling technique and immune precipitation with univalent antibody to dopa decarboxylase, we demonstrated that the increase in enzyme activity was due to a stimulation of synthesis of enzyme molecules de novo. In this respect, the action of ecdysone is similar to the action of other steroid hormones.

scholarly journals Are sexual desire and sociosexual orientation related to men’s salivary steroid hormones?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Stern ◽  
Konstantina Karastoyanova ◽  
Michal Kandrik ◽  
Jaimie Stephen Torrance ◽  
Amanda Hahn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Steroid Hormone ◽  
Casual Sex ◽  
Longitudinal Analyses ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Sociosexual Orientation ◽  
Hormone Levels ◽  
Salivary Testosterone ◽  
Adult Men

Objective: Although it is widely assumed that men’s sexual desire and interest in casual sex (i.e., sociosexual orientation) are linked to steroid hormone levels, evidence for such associations is mixed. Methods: We tested for both longitudinal and cross-sectional relationships between salivary testosterone, cortisol, reported sexual desire and sociosexuality in a sample of 61 young adult men, each of whom was tested weekly on up to five occasions. Results: Longitudinal analyses showed no clear relationships between steroid hormones and self-reported sexual desire or sociosexual orientation. Cross-sectional analyses showed no significant associations between average hormone levels and self-reported sexual desire. However, some aspects of sociosexuality, most notably desire for casual sex, were related to men’s average hormone levels. Men with higher average testosterone reported greater desire for casual sex, but only if they also had relatively low average cortisol levels. Conclusions: Our results support a Dual Hormone account of men’s sociosexuality, in which the combined effects of testosterone and cortisol predict the extent of men’s interest in casual sex. However, we did not detect compelling evidence for an association of within-subject hormone shifts and sexual desire or sociosexual orientation.

Steroid-induced cell proliferation in vivo is associated with increased c-myc proto-oncogene transcript abundance

Development ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-95
Author(s):  
S.A. Rempel ◽  
R.N. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Cell Proliferation ◽  
Growth Factors ◽  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Steroid Hormone ◽  
Normal Liver ◽  
Transcript Abundance ◽  
Chicken Oviduct ◽  
Massive Cell ◽  
In Cells

Enhanced c-myc transcript abundance has been observed in a variety of human malignancies, in normal liver tissue induced to proliferate in vivo by partial hepatectomy and in cells in culture induced to proliferate with the addition of protein hormones and growth factors. Little is known, however, about the expression of cellular proto-oncogenes in cells induced to proliferate in vivo by steroid hormones. Experiments reported here indicate that when cells of the immature chicken oviduct are induced to undergo rapid in vivo proliferation by application of the estrogen hormone 17 beta-estradiol, the onset of this proliferation is associated with a rapid, large, and transient increase in c-myc transcript abundance. When estrogen is administered to chickens in which the oviduct has already differentiated, neither massive cell proliferation nor large increases in c-myc transcript abundance are induced. We conclude that the abundance of c-myc transcripts in vivo correlates well with the degree of cell proliferation induced by steroid hormone.

ACTH-elicited sodium appetite in sheep

1980 ◽  
Vol 239 (1) ◽  
pp. E45-E50 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Weisinger ◽  
J. P. Coghlan ◽  
D. A. Denton ◽  
J. S. Fan ◽  
S. Hatzikostas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Steroid Hormone ◽  
Extracellular Fluid ◽  
Blood Levels ◽  
Adrenal Steroid ◽  
Sodium Appetite ◽  
Intramuscular Injections ◽  
Acth Treatment ◽  
Long Acting

Intramuscular injections of long-acting synthetic ACTH (45 U twice daily for 5 days) caused a large increase in the intake of 0.5 M NaCl in sheep. Mean Na intake of the sheep on the last 3 days of treatment approximated 50% of their total extracellular fluid Na. The mineral appetite was specific for NaCl. Intakes of 0.5 M KCl or 0.25 M CaCl2 were not significantly altered. The enhanced appetite for Na induced by ACTH appeared to precede any increase in urinary Na excretion. ACTH treatment was ineffective in adrenalectomized sheep. However, an infusion into adrenalectomized sheep of a combination of adrenal steroid hormones (including aldosterone, deoxycorticosterone, 11-deoxycortisol, cortisol, and corticosterone) that contrived blood levels similar to those, obtained with ACTH treatment in normal sheep did induce Na appetite. Thus, ACTH induces a specific, adrenal-steroid hormone-dependent Na appetite in sheep.

TeBG- and CBG-bound steroid hormones in rabbits are available for influx into uterus in vivo

1988 ◽  
Vol 254 (1) ◽  
pp. E79-E83
Author(s):  
G. Chaudhuri ◽  
K. A. Steingold ◽  
W. M. Pardridge ◽  
H. L. Judd
Keyword(s):  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Plasma Proteins ◽  
Steroid Hormone ◽  
Rabbit Serum ◽  
Injection Technique ◽  
Metabolic Clearance ◽  
Adrenal Steroid ◽  
Corticosteroid Binding Globulin

The metabolic clearance rate (MCR) of gonadal or adrenal steroid hormones in rabbits often does not bear the expected inverse relationship with hormone binding to testosterone-binding globulin (TeBG) or corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG). This suggests TeBG or CBG may not impede steroid hormone delivery to tissues. The effects of rabbit plasma proteins on the influxes of 3H-labeled steroids from the circulation into the rabbit uterus were measured in vivo using a tissue sampling single-injection technique. In the absence of plasma proteins, estradiol (E2) and testosterone (T) were freely diffusible through the uterine microvasculature (i.e., extraction greater than 80%). The extractions of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and corticosterone (B) ranged from 60 to 72%, while that of cortisol (F) was reduced at 40%. Rabbit serum exerted no inhibition of the influxes of the steroids tested. The influxes of T and B greatly exceeded the rates that would be expected if only the free and albumin-bound fractions estimated in vitro were diffusible in vivo. However, the extraction of [3H]corticosteroid-binding globulin or bovine [3H]albumin were low, consistent with little, if any, extravascular uptake of the plasma proteins. The results indicate both albumin-bound and globulin-bound steroid hormone are available for transport into the uterus in the rabbit in vivo without significant exodus of the plasma protein, per se.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document