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Int J Sports Med 2023; 44(02): 81-94
DOI: 10.1055/a-1909-1196
Review

Clinical Concerns on Sex Steroids Variability in Cisgender and Transgender Women Athletes

Luigi Di Luigi
1   Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Roma 'Foro Italico', Rome, Italy
,
Emanuela A Greco
1   Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Roma 'Foro Italico', Rome, Italy
2   Department of Science of Movement, Università degli Studi Niccolò Cusano, Rome, Italy
,
Chiara Fossati
1   Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Roma 'Foro Italico', Rome, Italy
,
Antonio Aversa
3   Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
,
Paolo Sgrò
1   Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Roma 'Foro Italico', Rome, Italy
,
Cristina Antinozzi
1   Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Roma 'Foro Italico', Rome, Italy
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Abstract

In the female athletic community, there are several endogenous and exogenous variables that influence the status of the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian axis and serum sex steroid hormones concentrations (e. g., 17β-estradiol, progesterone, androgens) and their effects. Moreover, female athletes with different sex chromosome abnormalities exist (e. g., 46XX, 46XY, and mosaicism). Due to the high variability of sex steroid hormones serum concentrations and responsiveness, female athletes may have different intra- and inter-individual biological and functional characteristics, health conditions, and sports-related health risks that can influence sports performance and eligibility. Consequently, biological, functional, and/or sex steroid differences may exist in the same and in between 46XX female athletes (e. g., ovarian rhythms, treated or untreated hypogonadism and hyperandrogenism), between 46XX and 46XY female athletes (e. g., treated or untreated hyperandrogenism/disorders of sexual differentiation), and between transgender women and eugonadal cisgender athletes. From a healthcare perspective, dedicated physicians need awareness, knowledge, and an understanding of sex steroid hormones’ variability and related health concerns in female athletes to support physiologically healthy, safe, fair, and inclusive sports participation. In this narrative overview, we focus on the main clinical relationships between hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian axis function, endogenous sex steroids and health status, health risks, and sports performance in the heterogeneous female athletic community.

Key words

sex steroid hormones - female athletes - hyperandrogenism - testosterone - transgender woman


Publication History

Received: 01 February 2022

Accepted: 08 July 2022

Article published online:
29 September 2022

© 2022. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 

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