“Starting at puberty, male individuals have lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) when compared to female individuals. However, the relative contribution of sex hormones versus sex chromosomes to this difference has remained unknown.
Two hundred sixty-nine transgender and gender-diverse adolescents were recruited into the multi-center study, of which one site was Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital. Thirty percent of participants were transfeminine and 70 percent were transmasculine.
After six months of estradiol treatment in transfeminine participants, average HDL-C levels increased by about 27 percent to fall within the expected range for female adolescents. Conversely, for transmasculine individuals, six months of testosterone treatment led to average HDL-C dropping by about 18 percent, within the expected range for male adolescents"
