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Prenatal Testosterone Exposure Is Linked to Sexually Dimorphic Changes in Body Composition in 7-Year-Old Children

Camilla Viola Buskbjerg Palm1,2,3,4, Anders Grøntved5, Dorte Møller Jensen2,3

  • 1Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
|February 11, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Maternal testosterone in the third trimester was linked to increased body fat in 7-year-old boys, but not girls. This suggests prenatal testosterone exposure affects boys' body composition differently.

Area of Science:

  • Reproductive Endocrinology
  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Human Development

Background:

  • Maternal free testosterone (FT) levels rise in the third trimester.
  • Pregnant women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have higher FT than those without.
  • Prenatal androgen exposure is linked to increased childhood catch-up growth in boys.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between maternal third-trimester FT and body composition in 7-year-old children.
  • To determine if this association differs between boys and girls.

Main Methods:

  • Study included 1,008 mother-child pairs from the Odense Child Cohort.
  • Maternal FT was calculated from total testosterone (TT) at gestational week 28.
  • Child body composition was assessed at age 7 using whole-body Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA).

Main Results:

  • In boys, a twofold increase in maternal FT correlated with a 4.2% rise in fat mass index (FMI).
  • Boys exposed to higher prenatal FT also showed increased BMI and BMI z-scores.
  • No significant associations were found between maternal FT and body composition in girls.

Conclusions:

  • Higher prenatal free testosterone exposure in boys is associated with increased body fat at age seven.
  • The study suggests sex-specific susceptibility to prenatal testosterone exposure regarding child body composition.
  • Findings highlight potential long-term effects of the prenatal hormonal environment on male offspring body composition.
Abstract

Keywords:
DXA scanPCOSfat massgynoid fatprospective cohort studytestosterone

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