Patterns of Hormone Excretion in Male and Female Homosexuals

Loraine, J. A.; Adamopoulos, D. A.; Kirkham, K. E.; Ismail, A. A. A.; Dove, G. A.

doi:10.1038/234552a0

Cited by 37 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Our findings among women contribute to a mixed literature. Specifically, higher basal testosterone concentrations in lesbian/bisexual women is in accord with some existing reports (Loraine et al, 1971;Loraine et al, 1970), but also in disaccord with studies showing no differences (Downey et al, 1987;Griffiths et al, 1974). Lesbian/bisexual women also demonstrated higher basal progesterone concentrations in comparison to heterosexual women.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Several human studies during the 1970s using analytes extracted from either urine, serum, or plasma revealed that men belonging to a sexual minority showed higher testosterone (Brodie et al, 1974;Doerr et al, 1976;Tourney and Hatfield, 1973), lower testosterone (Brodie et al, 1974;Kolodny et al, 1972;Kolodny et al, 1971;Loraine et al, 1971;Loraine et al, 1970;Pillard et al, 1974;Rohde et al, 1977;Stahl et al, 1976), no differences in testosterone (Barlow et al, 1974;Birk et al, 1973;Doerr et al, 1973;Jaffee et al, 1980), higher estrogen (Doerr et al, 1973;Doerr et al, 1976), or lower estrogen (Evans, 1972) when compared to heterosexual controls. Likewise, among sexual minority women compared to age-matched heterosexual controls, studies have reported lower estrogen (Loraine et al, 1971;Loraine et al, 1970), higher testosterone (Loraine et al, 1971;Loraine et al, 1970), no differences in testosterone (Downey et al, 1987), and no differences in estrogen or progesterone (Griffiths et al, 1974;Seyler et al, 1978). Similarly for gonadotropins, studies reporting elevated luteinizing hormone concentrations among sexual minority men (Kolodny et al, 1972) and women (Loraine et al, 1971) have been matched by an abundance of research failing to show differences in luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, as well as prolactin (Friedman and Frantz, 1977;Jaffee et al, 1980;Kolodny et al, 1971;Parks et al, 1974).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, among sexual minority women compared to age-matched heterosexual controls, studies have reported lower estrogen (Loraine et al, 1971;Loraine et al, 1970), higher testosterone (Loraine et al, 1971;Loraine et al, 1970), no differences in testosterone (Downey et al, 1987), and no differences in estrogen or progesterone (Griffiths et al, 1974;Seyler et al, 1978). Similarly for gonadotropins, studies reporting elevated luteinizing hormone concentrations among sexual minority men (Kolodny et al, 1972) and women (Loraine et al, 1971) have been matched by an abundance of research failing to show differences in luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, as well as prolactin (Friedman and Frantz, 1977;Jaffee et al, 1980;Kolodny et al, 1971;Parks et al, 1974).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gonads and strife: Sex hormones vary according to sexual orientation for women and stress indices for both sexes

Juster

Almeida

Cardoso

et al. 2017

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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a b s t r a c tThis study assessed sexual orientation and psychobiological stress indices in relation to salivary sex hormones as part of a well-validated laboratory-based stress paradigm. Participants included 87 healthy adults that were on average 25 years old who self-identified as lesbian/bisexual women (n = 20), heterosexual women (n = 21), gay/bisexual men (n = 26), and heterosexual men (n = 20). Two saliva samples were collected fifteen minutes before and fifteen minutes after exposure to a modified Trier Social Stress Test to determine testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone concentrations via enzyme-immune assaying. Mean sex hormones were further tested in association to stress indices related to cortisol systemic output (area under the curve with respect to ground) based on ten measures throughout the two-hour visit, allostatic load indexed using 21 biomarkers, and perceived stress assessed using a well-validated questionnaire. Results revealed that lesbian/bisexual women had higher overall testosterone and progesterone concentrations than heterosexual women, while no differences were found among gay/bisexual men in comparison to heterosexual men. Lesbian/bisexual women and heterosexual men showed positive associations between mean estradiol concentrations and allostatic load, while gay/bisexual men and heterosexual women showed positive associations between mean testosterone and cortisol systemic output. In summary, sex hormone variations appear to vary according to sexual orientation among women, but also as a function of cortisol systemic output, allostatic load, and perceived stress for both sexes. (R.-P. Juster). explanations of non-heterosexual behavior have often hypothesized a dysregulation of sex-specific hormone profiles, resulting in anomalies in the organizational and activational effects of these hormones on the neurodevelopment of circuitry underlying species-specific sexual behavior. Animal models involving prenatal androgen deficits, for example, were first believed to cause male homosexuality (Phoenix et al., 1959), while prenatal androgen overabundance presumably resulted in female homosexuality. Our study endeavours to show that such sex hormone differences assumed to be attributable to sexual orientation are also modulated by unexplored stress phenomena.Advances in behavioral neuroscience has led to the introduction of sophisticated genetic models involving non-functional androgen receptors, further allowing researchers to characterize the relation-Konstanzer Online-Publikations-System (KOPS) URL: http://nbn-resolving. de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-2-1f6t7wu8qvgcl6 Erschienen in: Psychoneuroendocrinology ; 72 (2016). -S. 119-130 https://dx.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Gonads and strife: Sex hormones vary according to sexual orientation for women and stress indices for both sexes

Juster

Almeida

Cardoso

et al. 2017

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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“…Within this rationale, homosexual men's higher sensitivity to androstenone as compared to heterosexual men may originate from hormonal differences between those groups. Within studies concerned with male homosexuality, testosterone is the most investigated hormone, with some authors reporting higher (Brodie et al 1974) and others reporting lower (Loraine et al 1971) testosterone levels in homosexual men compared to heterosexual men. Results of a more recent study revealed no significant differences within testosterone levels at all (Neave et al 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Male Sexual Orientation Affects Sensitivity to Androstenone

2009

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Androstenone has often been discussed as a human social chemosignal, as it is one of the major contributing substances to the human body odor for which humans possess specific receptors. Here, we investigated whether male sexual orientation influences the perception of androstenone. Sensitivity to androstenone, subjective ratings of intensity, pleasantness, unpleasantness, and familiarity of the odor, as well as self-reported emotional responses (valence, arousal, dominance) to the odor were assessed in 13 homosexual and 14 heterosexual men. Isovaleric acid served as a control substance. Homosexual men displayed significantly higher olfactory sensitivity to the odor of androstenone than heterosexual men (p<0.05), but they did not differ from heterosexual men in their sensitivity to isovaleric acid (p>0.25). Moreover, both groups did not differ in their judgments of or in their emotional response to androstenone or isovaleric acid. The current results indicate that men's sexual orientation significantly impacts the perception of androstenone but that this effect does not necessarily extend to subjective judgments.

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“…The prediction was that lesbians would have more masculine patterns of hormones than would heterosexual women. Several small studies found differences between lesbians and heterosexual women (Gartrell, Loriaux, & Chase, 1977;Loraine, Adamopoulos, Kirkham, Ismail, & Dove, 1971;Loraine, Ismail, Adamopoulos, & Dove, 1970). In contrast, three more recent studies comparing carefully matched samples of lesbians and heterosexual women failed to find significant differences on multiple hormonal measures (Dancey, 1990;Downey, Ehrhardt, Schiffman, Dyrenfurth, & Becker, 1987;Griffiths et al, 1974).…”

Section: Evaluating the Biological Research On Women's Sexual Orientamentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Research on Women's Sexual Orientations: Evaluating the Scientific Evidence

Veniegas

Conley

2000

Journal of Social Issues

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The importance of biological influences on sexual orientation is hotly debated. This article summarizes public opinions about the causes of sexual orientations and documents shifts over time toward greater endorsement of biological rather than environmental explanations. Next, empirical evidence concerning neuroendocrine and genetic explanations of women's sexual orientation is reviewed. Currently, there is no convincing evidence that biological factors are a determining influence on women's sexual orientations. In some research areas, the data on women are incomplete. In areas where adequate research is available, studies on women do not conclusively support biological hypotheses. Implications of these findings are considered.What role do biological factors play in determining whether a woman is heterosexual, lesbian, or bisexual? Religious leaders, talk show hosts, and the general public frequently ask this question, with some arguing that biology is crucial to the development of sexual orientation and others emphasizing the role of experience or personal choice. The causes of sexual orientation are hotly debated everywhere from advice columns to Congress (Landers, 1992;Sullivan, 1984).

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Patterns of Hormone Excretion in Male and Female Homosexuals

Cited by 37 publications

References 11 publications

Gonads and strife: Sex hormones vary according to sexual orientation for women and stress indices for both sexes

Gonads and strife: Sex hormones vary according to sexual orientation for women and stress indices for both sexes

Male Sexual Orientation Affects Sensitivity to Androstenone

Biological Research on Women's Sexual Orientations: Evaluating the Scientific Evidence

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