PMID- 28403322 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20170419 LR - 20220310 IS - 2238-0019 (Electronic) IS - 2237-6089 (Linking) VI - 39 IP - 1 DP - 2017 Jan-Mar TI - Serum concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria undergoing sex reassignment surgery. PG - 43-47 LID - S2237-60892017000100043 [pii] LID - 10.1590/2237-6089-2016-0033 [doi] AB - INTRODUCTION: Transsexualism (ICD-10) is a condition characterized by a strong and persistent dissociation with one's assigned gender. Sex reassignment surgery (SRS) and hormone therapy provide a means of allowing transsexual individuals to feel more congruent with their gender and have played a major role in treatment over the past 70 years. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) appears to play a key role in recovery from acute surgical trauma and environmentally mediated vulnerability to psychopathology. We hypothesize that BDNF may be a biomarker of alleviation of gender incongruence suffering. OBJECTIVES: To measure preoperative and postoperative serum BDNF levels in transsexual individuals as a biomarker of alleviation of stress related to gender incongruence after SRS. METHODS: Thirty-two male-to-female transsexual people who underwent both surgery and hormonal treatment were selected from our initial sample. BDNF serum levels were assessed before and after SRS with sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The time elapsed between the pre-SRS and post-SRS blood collections was also measured. RESULTS: No significant difference was found in pre-SRS or post-SRS BDNF levels or with relation to the time elapsed after SRS when BDNF levels were measured. CONCLUSION: Alleviation of the suffering related to gender incongruence after SRS cannot be assessed by BDNF alone. Surgical solutions may not provide a quick fix for psychological distress associated with transsexualism and SRS may serve as one step toward, rather than as the conclusion of, construction of a person's gender identity. FAU - Schneider, Maiko A AU - Schneider MA AD - Programa de Identidade de Genero (Protig), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. FAU - Andreazza, Tahiana AU - Andreazza T AD - Programa de Identidade de Genero (Protig), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. FAU - Fontanari, Anna Martha V AU - Fontanari AM AD - Programa de Identidade de Genero (Protig), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. AD - Laboratorio de Psiquiatria Molecular, Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia Translacional em Medicina (INCT-TM), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. FAU - Costa, Angelo B AU - Costa AB AD - Programa de Identidade de Genero (Protig), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. FAU - Silva, Dhiordan C da AU - Silva DC AD - Programa de Identidade de Genero (Protig), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. FAU - Aguiar, Bianca W de AU - Aguiar BW AD - Laboratorio de Psiquiatria Molecular, Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia Translacional em Medicina (INCT-TM), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. FAU - Massuda, Raffael AU - Massuda R AD - Laboratorio de Psiquiatria Molecular, Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia Translacional em Medicina (INCT-TM), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. FAU - Pedrini, Mariana AU - Pedrini M AD - Laboratorio de Psiquiatria Molecular, Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia Translacional em Medicina (INCT-TM), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. FAU - Gama, Clarissa S AU - Gama CS AD - Programa de Identidade de Genero (Protig), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. AD - Laboratorio de Psiquiatria Molecular, Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia Translacional em Medicina (INCT-TM), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. FAU - Schwarz, Karine AU - Schwarz K AD - Programa de Identidade de Genero (Protig), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. FAU - Kauer-Sant'Anna, Marcia AU - Kauer-Sant'Anna M AD - Laboratorio de Psiquiatria Molecular, Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia Translacional em Medicina (INCT-TM), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. FAU - Lobato, Maria Ines R AU - Lobato MI AD - Programa de Identidade de Genero (Protig), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. AD - Laboratorio de Psiquiatria Molecular, Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia Translacional em Medicina (INCT-TM), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. LA - eng PT - Journal Article PL - Brazil TA - Trends Psychiatry Psychother JT - Trends in psychiatry and psychotherapy JID - 101610695 RN - 0 (Biomarkers) RN - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) RN - 7171WSG8A2 (BDNF protein, human) SB - IM MH - Adult MH - Biomarkers/blood MH - Blood Chemical Analysis MH - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/*blood MH - Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay MH - Female MH - Gender Dysphoria/*blood/drug therapy/psychology/surgery MH - HIV Infections/blood/complications MH - Hormone Replacement Therapy MH - Humans MH - Male MH - Postoperative Period MH - Preoperative Period MH - Prospective Studies MH - *Sex Reassignment Surgery MH - Stress, Psychological/*blood/etiology MH - Transgender Persons/psychology MH - Transsexualism/*blood/drug therapy/psychology/surgery MH - Treatment Outcome EDAT- 2017/04/14 06:00 MHDA- 2017/04/20 06:00 CRDT- 2017/04/14 06:00 PHST- 2016/05/25 00:00 [received] PHST- 2016/11/28 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2017/04/14 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2017/04/14 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2017/04/20 06:00 [medline] AID - S2237-60892017000100043 [pii] AID - 10.1590/2237-6089-2016-0033 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Trends Psychiatry Psychother. 2017 Jan-Mar;39(1):43-47. doi: 10.1590/2237-6089-2016-0033.