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Changes in temperature perception in transgender persons undergoing gender-affirming hormone therapy.
Commun. Med. 6:146 (2026)
BACKGROUND: There are known sex disparities in temperature perception with lower thermal detection thresholds found in people assigned female at birth compared to people assigned male at birth. However, underlying mechanisms of these differences and the influences of sex hormones are not yet sufficiently understood. METHODS: To assess the effects of sex hormones on temperature perception, we measured in a prospective observational cohort study temperature detection and pain thresholds with quantitative sensory testing and subjective temperature sensation in transgender patients undergoing gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT). We included 12 trans women (male-to-female transgender) and 17 trans men (female-to-male transgender) before and 3 and 6 months after start of GAHT. As a control group, we measured 13 cis women and 10 cis men without hormone treatment at the same timepoints. RESULTS: Here we show that temperature detection thresholds in persons assigned female at birth at baseline are lower than in persons assigned male at birth. Accordingly, in trans women, temperature detection thresholds decrease with GAHT. Pain detection thresholds do not differ between sexes assigned at birth and do not change with time. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that in trans women undergoing GAHT with estradiol and cyproterone acetate sensitivity to temperature changes increases, consistent with the greater temperature sensitivity observed in cis women compared to cis men. Future studies need to assess at which neurobiological processing stages the relevant changes occur and what molecular mechanisms play a role. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT04838249.
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Publication type
Article: Journal article
Document type
Scientific Article
Keywords
Thermal Perception; Body-surface; Thresholds; Cold; Comfort; Skin; Sensitivity; Channel; Trpm8; Warm
ISSN (print) / ISBN
2730-664X
e-ISSN
2730-664X
Journal
Communications Medicine
Quellenangaben
Volume: 6,
Issue: 1,
Article Number: 146
Publisher
Springer
Publishing Place
Campus, 4 Crinan St, London, N1 9xw, England
Reviewing status
Peer reviewed
Institute(s)
Helmholtz Institute for Metabolism, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG)
Grants
Besins Healthcare
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation)
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation)