Abstract
Histocompatibility-Y (H-Y) antigen, the presumptive inducer of the mammalian testis, is present in the cells of normal males and not in the cells of normal females. Recent reports have implied that patients with transsexualism exhibit H-Y antigen phenotypes at variance with those of normal males and females and, thus, that H-Y serology might provide a tool for the diagnosis and study of the transsexual condition. We therefore evaluated blood and testicular cells from 21 male-to-female transsexuals using conventional and monoclonal H-Y antibodies. We found no evidence of abnormal H-Y phenotype. Five of the patients were interviewed postoperatively by two examiners and rated for the diagnosis of transsexualism. Three of the five were rated primary transsexual by one or both examiners, and two were rated secondary transsexual.
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Supported in part by grants from the Dwight School Foundation and NIH AI 19456 to SW; HD 17049 to RG; and HD 17456 and the Lehigh University Research Fund to NGS.
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Wachtel, S., Green, R., Simon, N.G. et al. On the expression of H-Y antigen in transsexuals. Arch Sex Behav 15, 51–68 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01542304
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01542304