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. 2021 Jan-Mar;43(1):37-46.
doi: 10.47626/2237-6089-2020-0007.

Gender dysphoria: prejudice from childhood to adulthood, but no impact on inflammation. A cross-sectional controlled study

André Gonzales Real  1   2 , Anna Martha Vaitses Fontanari  1   2 , Angelo Brandelli Costa  3 , Bianca Machado Borba Soll  1   2 , Giovana Bristot  4   5 , Larissa Fagundes de Oliveira  4 , Ana Maria Kamphorst  1 , Maiko Abel Schneider  1   2 , Maria Inês Rodrigues Lobato  1   2
Affiliations

Gender dysphoria: prejudice from childhood to adulthood, but no impact on inflammation. A cross-sectional controlled study

André Gonzales Real et al. Trends Psychiatry Psychother. 2021 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

Introduction: Gender dysphoria (GD) is characterized by a marked incongruence between experienced gender and one's gender assigned at birth. Transsexual individuals present a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders when compared to non-transsexual populations, and it has been proposed that minority stress, i.e., discrimination or prejudice, has a relevant impact on these outcomes. Transsexuals also show increased chances of having experienced maltreatment during childhood. Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) are inflammatory cytokines that regulate our immune system. Imbalanced levels in such cytokines are linked to history of childhood maltreatment and psychiatric disorders. We compared differences in IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α levels and exposure to traumatic events in childhood and adulthood in individuals with and without GD (DSM-5).

Methods: Cross-sectional controlled study comparing 34 transsexual women and 31 non-transsexual men. They underwent a thorough structured interview, assessing sociodemographic information, mood and anxiety symptoms, childhood maltreatment, explicit discrimination and suicidal ideation. Inflammatory cytokine levels (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α) were measured by multiplex immunoassay.

Results: Individuals with GD experienced more discrimination (p = 0.002) and childhood maltreatment (p = 0.046) than non-transsexual men. Higher suicidal ideation (p < 0.001) and previous suicide attempt (p = 0.001) rates were observed in transsexual women. However, no differences were observed in the levels of any cytokine.

Conclusions: These results suggest that transsexual women are more exposed to stressful events from childhood to adulthood than non-transsexual men and that GD per se does not play a role in inflammatory markers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure

No conflicts of interest declared concerning the publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Comparison of scores obtained for the Brazilian Explicit Discrimination Scale (BEDS) between transsexual women and non-transsexual men.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Comparison of scores obtained for the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) between transsexual women and non-transsexual men.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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