Short Communication:Transgender Women on Feminizing Hormone Therapy Demonstrate a Distinct Rectal Mucosal Transcriptome from Cisgender Men.

ABSTRACT: Among transgender women (TGW), the effects of feminizing hormone therapy use on rectal mucosal (RM) HIV transmission are largely unknown. In this small pilot study, we compared the RM transcriptome in TGW utilizing feminizing hormone therapy with a group of cisgender men who have sex with men (MSM) engaging in condomless receptive anal intercourse (AI) and to a group of cisgender men who had never engaged in AI. There were 498 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in TGW compared with men who had never engaged in AI, and 154 DEGs compared with the MSM. Among TGW, a unique RM transcriptome was identified that implicated pathways critical for mucosal immune responses, including upregulation of genes that mediate immune cell activation and the production of cytokines and other immune signalin

SUBMITTER: Ackerley CG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7482106 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature