Publications by authors named "Leighton Seal"

Female hypogonadism (FH) is a relatively common endocrine disorder in women of premenopausal age, but there are significant uncertainties and wide variation in its management. Most current guidelines are monospecialty and only address premature ovarian insufficiency (POI); some allude to management in very brief and general terms, and most rely upon the extrapolation of evidence from the studies relating to physiological estrogen deficiency in postmenopausal women. The Society for Endocrinology commissioned new guidance to provide all care providers with a multidisciplinary perspective on managing patients with all forms of FH.

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The prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) among trans men has been reported as higher than among the cisgender population, which varies between 14.4% and 58%. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to evaluate the association of oligo-anovulation and/or features of hyperandrogenism with the scores on the Utrecht Gender Dysphoria Scale (UGDS), the Body Image Scale (BIS), and the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) in treatment-naive trans men with PCOS seeking help for gender transition.

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The inclusion of transwomen into elite female sport has been brought into question recently with World Rugby banning transwomen from the elite female competition, aiming to prioritise safety over fairness and inclusion, citing the size, force and power-producing advantages conferred to transwomen. The same question is being asked of all Olympic sports including non-contact sports such as archery and shooting. As both these Olympic sports are the polar opposite to the contact sport of rugby in terms of the need to consider the safety of athletes, the IF of both archery and shooting should consider the other elements when deciding the integration of trans individuals in their sports.

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Sport is historically designated by the binary categorization of male and female that conflicts with modern society. Sport's governing bodies should consider reviewing rules determining the eligibility of athletes in the female category as there may be lasting advantages of previously high testosterone concentrations for transwomen athletes and currently high testosterone concentrations in differences in sex development (DSD) athletes. The use of serum testosterone concentrations to regulate the inclusion of such athletes into the elite female category is currently the objective biomarker that is supported by most available scientific literature, but it has limitations due to the lack of sports performance data before, during or after testosterone suppression.

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This review examines the impact of gender affirming hormone therapy used in the transgendered and non-binary populations on cardiovascular outcomes and surrogate markers of cardiovascular health. Current evidence suggests that hormonal therapy for transgendered women decreases or is neutral regarding myocardial infarction risk. There is an increased incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE), but newer studies suggest that the risk is significantly lower than previously described.

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One of the most contentious issues in modern day sport arises when sports are divided into male and female categories. The International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) previous policy regulating intersex athletes was suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), resulting in a new policy. The challenge faced by the governing body of athletics is to formulate a policy that upholds both international law and the Olympic charter that stipulates athletes compete without discrimination of any kind.

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Some people have a gender which is neither male nor female and may identify as both male and female at one time, as different genders at different times, as no gender at all, or dispute the very idea of only two genders. The umbrella terms for such genders are 'genderqueer' or 'non-binary' genders. Such gender identities outside of the binary of female and male are increasingly being recognized in legal, medical and psychological systems and diagnostic classifications in line with the emerging presence and advocacy of these groups of people.

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This review focuses on the effect that cross-gender sex steroid therapy has on metabolic and hormonal parameters. There is an emphasis on those changes that result in significant clinical effects such as the positive effects of the development of secondary sexual characteristics and negative effects such as haemostatic effects and thromboembolism in transwomen or dyslipidaemia in transmen. There is also a description of the current hormonal regimens used at the largest UK gender identity clinic.

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One of the challenging issues in patients with complex problems is that the various diseases and their treatment can influence each other and present unusual hurdles in management. We investigated one such complex case. A 34-year-old XY male presented with azoospermia, detected on semen analysis for pre-orchidectomy sperm banking.

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The hypothalamic neuropeptide melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) increases feeding when injected intracerebroventricularly in rats. To identify the hypothalamic nuclei responsible for the orexigenic effect, we injected the peptide into discrete hypothalamic nuclei known to express the MCH receptor, MCH1R. MCH (0.

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Ghrelin is an endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue (GHS) receptor, expressed in the hypothalamus and pituitary. Ghrelin, like synthetic GHSs, stimulates food intake and growth hormone (GH) release following systemic or intracerebroventricular administration. In addition to GH stimulation, ghrelin and synthetic GHSs are reported to stimulate the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in vivo.

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Intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of prolactin-releasing peptide (PrRP) is known to increase plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and cause c-fos expression in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN). We hypothesize that this is the site at which PrRP acts to increase plasma ACTH. We have used ICV injection and direct intranuclear injection of PrRP into the PVN to investigate the sites important in the stimulation of ACTH release in vivo.

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alpha-Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) is an agonist, and agouti-related protein (Agrp) an endogenous antagonist at the melanocortin 3 and 4 receptors which are found in the central nervous system (CNS). We have examined the effect of alpha-MSH and Agrp on the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in vitro and in vivo in male rats. Intraparaventricular nuclear (iPVN) injection of [Nle(4),D-Phe(7)]-alpha-MSH (NDP-MSH) (a long-acting alpha-MSH analogue) increased plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) (10 min post-injection: 25.

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