Neural Substrates of the Emotional Negativity Bias as Revealed by Hemodynamic Data

The document reports on a retrospective analysis of the effects of Cyproterone acetate (CA), an antiandrogenic progestin, used alone and in combination with estrogens on 27 adolescent trans-girls. The participants were treated with CA monotherapy for an average of 12 months, followed by a combination with estrogens (CA + E) for an average of 16 months. The study found that CA alone led to a decrease in facial and non-facial hair growth and one-third of the subjects experienced breast development. When combined with estrogens, 66.7% reached Tanner stage B3 and 9.5% reached B4 for breast development. Side effects included breast tenderness, emotionality, fatigue, and flushes, but no significant weight changes. Hemoglobin and hematocrit levels decreased, liver enzymes increased transiently, and triglycerides and cholesterol levels slightly decreased during CA treatment but returned to baseline during CA + E treatment. Gonadotropins decreased and testosterone levels dropped throughout the treatment, while prolactin levels increased with CA and normalized with CA + E. The study concluded that CA is a safe and well-tolerated treatment that induces mild feminizing effects in late-pubertal trans-girls and can be a valuable alternative when gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues are not an option. However, the study acknowledged limitations such as its modest sample size and retrospective nature.