Biology of Sex Differences最新文献

{"title":"Sex-related differences in Huntington's disease: a scoping review.","authors":"Greta Hemicker, Katarína Schwarzová, Clancy Cerejo, Samuel Labrecque, Marina Peball, Federico Carbone, Bernadette Wimmer, Atbin Djamshidian, Klaus Seppi, Beatrice Heim","doi":"10.1186/s13293-026-00895-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-026-00895-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal-dominant neurodegenerative disorder and emerging evidence indicates sex-specific differences in disease manifestation and progression.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To summarize current evidence on sex-related differences in HD across genetic, clinical, biomarker, and treatment domains and identify gaps in knowledge.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A literature search was performed in PubMed and Google Scholar (up to 31.01.2026). Eligible studies examined sex- or gender-related differences in individuals with genetically confirmed HD or those at risk. Meta-analyses, reviews, animal studies, theses, abstracts only, and non-English papers were excluded. After screening and full-text review, secondary citation tracking identified further studies. Sex was defined as the biological classification of participants (male/female) as originally reported, whereas gender was defined as socially constructed roles or identities, where explicitly assessed. Terminology in this review reflects the terminology used in the original publications.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Fourty-four studies met inclusion criteria. Genetic studies showed similar cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeat lengths across sexes when parent-of-origin was not considered, while paternal transmission was consistently linked to repeat expansion and earlier disease onset. Clinically, women more frequently exhibited depression, irritability, and greater functional impairment, whereas men more often showed apathy and substance misuse. Medication patterns differed, with women being more likely to receive antidepressants and anxiolytics, and men antipsychotics. Biomarker studies indicated potential sex-related differences in body composition, uric acid, neuroimaging, and hormonal profiles, though available evidence remained heterogeneous and exploratory.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Sex-related differences in HD are evident in genetic transmission, psychiatric symptoms, functional decline, and medication use. Biomarker findings suggest additional sex-specific biological signatures.</p>","PeriodicalId":8890,"journal":{"name":"Biology of Sex Differences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147615723","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"No impact of sex or testosterone treatment on wheel running in a rat model of inflammatory bowel disease.","authors":"Rebecca M Craft, Christyne M Sewell, Christa M Hickey, Kristen Delevich, Michael M Morgan","doi":"10.1186/s13293-026-00882-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-026-00882-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Sex differences in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been reported in humans, and gonadal steroid hormones are implicated in these sex differences. Although pain is a primary complaint among IBD patients, and pain often does not correlate with colon pathology, most animal studies focus on physiological rather than behavioral measures of IBD severity. Thus, the present study determined whether the impact of colitis on global measures of well-being is greater in female than male rats, and whether testosterone ameliorates this impact in females.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Blank capsules were implanted into gonadally intact adult females and males, and another group of females was implanted with testosterone-filled capsules. Three weeks later, trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS) was administered intracolonically to induce colitis. Body weight and continuous, home cage wheel running were measured daily, before and for 10 days after colitis induction. Estrous cycle was monitored for 21 days in a subset of females. At the end of the study, serum testosterone and estradiol were determined, in addition to clitoral/preputial gland size.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>TNBS suppressed body weight and wheel running, which partially recovered within 10 days, with no group differences in magnitude or time course of these effects. Serum testosterone was elevated in testosterone-treated compared to control females and did not differ significantly from males, whereas serum estradiol was similar across groups. Testosterone suppressed females' estrous cycling and increased clitoral gland size. At the end of the study, serum estradiol was found to be correlated with suppression of body weight and wheel running during the previous 10 days.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These results do not support the hypothesis of sex differences in well-being after IBD induction, or that testosterone ameliorates IBD effects in females, but corroborate human and rodent data suggesting that estradiol is associated with IBD severity in both sexes.</p>","PeriodicalId":8890,"journal":{"name":"Biology of Sex Differences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147607627","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sex differences in response to a short-term training program intervention in obese adolescents: a plasma metabolomics study.","authors":"Lin Zhu, Xianyan Xie, Huiguo Wang, Zekai Chen","doi":"10.1186/s13293-026-00896-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-026-00896-8","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;This study aims to investigate sex differences in the response to short-term Training Program intervention and the underlying metabolomic mechanisms among obese adolescents.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;A total of 98 obese adolescents underwent a 4-week, strictly controlled short-term Training Program intervention. Pre- and post-intervention measurements included body morphometry, body composition, lipid metabolism, and glucose homeostasis indicators. Plasma samples were analyzed using targeted metabolomics. Linear mixed-effects models (LMM) were employed to identify Sex-differential Responsive Metabolites, with volcano plots utilized to visualize metabolic regulation preferences between sexes. Hierarchical clustering analysis identified co-regulated metabolic modules within the Sex-differential Responsive Metabolites for pathway analysis. Partial least squares (PLS) regression models were constructed separately for males and females to identify metabolic biomarkers capable of predicting changes in clinical indicators.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Post-intervention, both males and females showed significant decreases in weight, body mass index (BMI), chest circumference, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, body water, Body fat mass, fat free mass, skeletal muscle mass, body fat percentage, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (P &lt; 0.001). Additionally, HOMA-β levels significantly decreased only in females (P = 0.01). After adjusting for developmental maturity and baseline metabolic risk, the improvements in body fat mass and body fat percentage in males were significantly greater than those in females (both P &lt; 0.01), whereas no statistical differences were found in weight and BMI improvements (P &gt; 0.05). The change in HOMA-β differed significantly between sexes (P = 0.031), with females exhibiting a more pronounced downregulation following the intervention. LMM identified 65 Sex-differential Responsive Metabolites. Hierarchical clustering revealed two co-regulated modules: Module 1 showed a strong upward trend in males but a weak response in females, significantly enriched in the linoleic acid metabolism pathway; Module 2 showed a downward trend in both sexes, but the magnitude of downregulation was more pronounced in males, significantly enriched in pathways related to amino acid catabolism and energy metabolism. PLS model analysis indicated that Sex-differential Responsive Metabolites had predictive capacity for male Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG, R&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;Y = 0.2653,Q&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; = 0.0091), female FBG (R&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;Y = 0.3552,Q&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; = 0.1321), and female LDL-c (R&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;Y = 0.3895,Q&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; = 0.1853).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;Obese adolescents exhibit significant sexual dimorphism in their response to short-term Training Program. Under the same standardized training program, males achieve greater fat ","PeriodicalId":8890,"journal":{"name":"Biology of Sex Differences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147589757","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Decoding sex and gender effects on health: evidence from a nationwide cohort.","authors":"Caroline E Gebhard, Bianca Gysi, Pimrapat Gebert, Nidaa Mikail, Livia Liechti, Patrick R Schmidlin, Adriana Vinzens, Achi Haider, Susan Bengs, Valerie Treyer, Philipp K Buehler, Reto A Schuepbach, Annelies S Zinkernagel, Silvio D Brugger, Dimitri Patriki, Benedikt Wiggli, Jürg H Beer, Andrée Friedl, Raphael Twerenbold, Gabriela M Kuster, Joerg C Schefold, Thibaud Spinetti, Pedro D Wendel-Garcia, Daniel A Hofmaenner, Thomas Scheier, Martin Siegemund, Vera Regitz-Zagrosek, Catherine Gebhard","doi":"10.1186/s13293-026-00888-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13293-026-00888-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Validated tools to assess gender are essential for clinical and population research but remain scarce and unstandardized. Understanding how sociocultural gender interacts with biological sex in shaping disease risk is critical for precision medicine. We aimed to investigate the association of sex and gender with cardiovascular risk factors and common comorbidities, and to refine an existing composite Gender score in a Swiss cohort.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This multicenter prospective study conducted in three tertiary and one regional hospital included outpatients and inpatients with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (n = 2,690; estimation and internal validation sets) and outpatients with periodontitis (n = 337; external validation set). Gender-related variables were acquired via questionnaire. Logistic regression models and propensity score matching were used to assess associations between sex, gender, and the prevalence of cardiometabolic and chronic health conditions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 3,027 individuals (46.3% women; mean age 45 ± 17 years) were included. The composite Gender Score predicted biological sex with good accuracy (ROC 0.776-0.809). Biological sex was more strongly associated with most cardiometabolic risk factors, stroke, immune disorders, and bone diseases, whereas gender showed limited independent associations. For diabetes, female sex was inversely associated with diabetes prevalence, while a more feminine gender profile was positively associated. These opposing associations persisted after accounting for gender in matched analyses, illustrating that sex and gender may contribute differently to specific metabolic outcomes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Sociocultural variables can accurately approximate biological sex and are differentially associated with health outcomes. In this cohort, biological sex explained most associations with cardiometabolic and chronic conditions, while gender effects were modest and condition-specific. The divergent associations observed for diabetes highlight that sex and gender are related but distinct constructs that should be considered jointly. Integrating both dimensions may improve future approaches to risk stratification, although these findings require confirmation in prospective and diverse populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":8890,"journal":{"name":"Biology of Sex Differences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13154686/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147580030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sex differences in congenital hereditary endothelial dystrophy (CHED) and Slc4a11^-/- mouse model of CHED.","authors":"Wenlin Zhang, Divya Sree Ramya, Eduardo Araujo, Jhuwala Venkatakrishnan, Saloni Gupta, Isa Matsubayashi, Marco Morselli, Ananya Kaginalkar, Sunita Chaurasia, Matteo Pellegrini, Radhika Tandon, Muralidhar Ramappa, Arthur Arnold, Anthony J Aldave","doi":"10.1186/s13293-026-00879-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13293-026-00879-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Sex differences have been described in several corneal diseases such as Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy and keratoconus, with estrogens implicated in the induction of these differences. Here, we report the identification of sex differences in a cohort of 177 individuals with Corneal Hereditary Endothelial Dystrophy (CHED), a rare corneal endothelial dystrophy associated with biallelic SLC4A11 gene mutations, and in a Slc4a11^-/- mouse model of CHED.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Central corneal thickness (CCT) was measured in individuals with CHED and in Slc4a11^-/- and Slc4a11^+/+ mice to identify a correlation between sex and the degree of corneal edema. To investigate potential causes of such a correlation, RNAseq analysis and mitochondrial superoxide measurement were performed on corneal endothelium from male and female Slc4a11^-/- and Slc4a11^+/+ mice, for which body composition analysis was also performed. Gonadectomy or sham surgery was performed in Slc4a11^-/- and Slc4a11^+/+ mice at 4 weeks of age with subsequent longitudinal CCT and body weight monitoring, followed by an analysis of the interaction effect of surgery type, sex and genotype on CCT.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Male sex is associated with increased CCT, and thus more severe corneal edema, the characteristic clinical feature of CHED, in affected individuals and Slc4a11^-/- mice. The corneal endothelium in male Slc4a11^-/- mice demonstrates increased levels of oxidative stress compared to Slc4a11^-/- female mice, as evidenced by higher levels of glucose- and glutamine-derived mitochondrial superoxide, controlling for age. Removal of gonadal hormones in Slc4a11^-/- mice increases corneal edema in female mice, suggesting a protective role for ovarian hormones. Transcriptomic analysis of corneal endothelium and body composition analysis in Slc4a11^+/+ and Slc4a11^-/- mice suggest that estrogens play a role in promoting corneal endothelial utilization of lipids via β-oxidation as an alternative energy source in the absence of SLC4A11-mediated NH₃:H transport function, thereby reducing oxidative stress from glucose and glutamine metabolism.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Male sex is associated with a more severe corneal phenotype in individuals with CHED and a Slc4a11^-/- mouse model of the disease. Increased corneal edema in female Slc4a11^-/- mice following gonadectomy suggests ovarian hormones play a protective role in maintaining corneal deturgescence in the setting of loss of SLC4A11 function.</p>","PeriodicalId":8890,"journal":{"name":"Biology of Sex Differences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13151172/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147526095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"C16-ceramide modulates sex-dimorphic defense strategies under cold stress in Cherax quadricarinatus via JAK-STAT suppression and oxidative disruption.","authors":"Honglin Chen, Huiyi Cai, Shuzhi Li, Xiaojun Xu, Bao Lou","doi":"10.1186/s13293-026-00892-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13293-026-00892-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Extreme low temperatures impose severe physiological stress on aquatic crustaceans. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of cold adaptation is critical for improving stress resilience in key aquaculture species. This study employed integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses to decipher sex-divergent neuroendocrine strategies in Cherax quadricarinatus under cold stress.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Males rely on high basal antioxidant capacity for rapid JAK-STAT pathway activation to combat acute cold stress, whereas females maintain metabolic homeostasis through sustained pathway activation. This sexually dimorphic strategy is negatively regulated by C16-ceramide. Females relied on sustained JAK-STAT activation for transcriptional reprogramming, while males exhibited rapid metabolic remodeling and transient antioxidant mobilization. Crucially, the sphingolipid hub molecule C16-ceramide was coordinately downregulated in both sexes. Exogenous supplementation revealed C16-ceramide potently suppressed JAK-STAT genes and disrupted hepatopancreatic redox homeostasis in females, while triggering antioxidant collapse in males.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study provides the first evidence of sexual dimorphism in JAK-STAT mediated cold adaptation in invertebrates, identifies C16-ceramide as a regulator of sex-specific defense strategies, and confirms the penetration of sexual dimorphism into conserved molecular stress response networks.</p>","PeriodicalId":8890,"journal":{"name":"Biology of Sex Differences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13147606/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147519748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sex-specific changes in the hippocampal proteome of Negr1^-/- mice: insight into the mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders.","authors":"Srirathi Muthuraman, Mohan Jayaram, Liisi Promet, Toomas Jagomäe, Arun Kumar Devarajan, Andreas-Christian Hade, Mari-Anne Philips, Katyayani Singh, Eero Vasar","doi":"10.1186/s13293-026-00890-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13293-026-00890-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8890,"journal":{"name":"Biology of Sex Differences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13141394/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147519791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sex differences in the clinical outcomes of chronic hepatitis B infection among paediatric patients.","authors":"Wenxian Ouyang, Zhenzhen Yao, Yingping Gu, Xin Lai, Songxu Peng","doi":"10.1186/s13293-026-00826-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13293-026-00826-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The impacts of sex on treatment response in paediatric patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains incompletely understood. We aimed to analyse sex differences in antiviral treatment response in children with HBV infection.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We performed a retrospective cohort study on 236 treatment-naive children with chronic HBV infection at the Liver Disease Centre of Hunan Children's Hospital. The Cox proportional hazard regression was used to estimated treatment outcome differences between males and females.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 236 subjects, the median age at treatment initiation was 4 (2,7) years, and 155 (65.68%) were male. After the median follow-up (IQR) of 27 (18, 43) months, the crude cumulative incidence of HBsAg loss, HBeAg clearance and HBV DNA undetectability in patients were 48.73%, 61.02% and 89.36%, respectively. Kaplan-Meier curve showed that female patients were more likely to achieving HBsAg loss compared to male patients (58.02% vs. 43.87%, P_log-rank=0.001). After adjustment for other covariates, female sex was significantly associated with the higher possibility of HBsAg loss (female vs. male: Adjusted HR: 2.03, 95% CI: 1.35-3.06) in children with chronic HBV infection. Furthermore, the landmark analysis revealed that the relationship between sex and HBsAg loss became more pronounced beyond the first year (female vs. male: adjusted HR (95%CI): 2.18(1.29-3.69)).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Children with chronic HBV infection receiving antiviral treatment are frequently observed to achieve functional cure. Sex plays an important role in treatment response among paediatric patients, with female patients exhibiting a higher likelihood of achieving HBsAg loss, particularly after one- year of follow-up.</p>","PeriodicalId":8890,"journal":{"name":"Biology of Sex Differences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13141448/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147509241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The persisting presence of absence in female sex development: a critical interdisciplinary reflection.","authors":"Birgit Stammberger, Xenia Steinbach, Nadine Hornig","doi":"10.1186/s13293-026-00848-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13293-026-00848-2","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;For much of the 20th-century, developmental endocrinology was structured around a binary model that positions male differentiation as an active, hormone-driven process and female development as the passive consequence of androgen absence. This framework has profoundly shaped both experimental practice and conceptual understanding in reproductive and developmental biology. Yet, empirical evidence in molecular endocrinology, combined with insights from feminist science studies and the history of science, invites a revitalization of the long-standing critique of the persistence of this model.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Main body: &lt;/strong&gt;This review critically re-interrogates the longstanding notion of female sex development as an outcome of mere androgen deprivation. First, through a historical analysis of key experimental systems in 20th-century embryological endocrinology, we trace how this conceptual pattern emerged and became stabilized within the discipline. We show how the methodological privileging of androgenic mechanisms over other hormonal pathways contributed to defining femaleness as absence. Second, drawing on research in developmental and molecular endocrinology, we review the roles of oestrogens and their receptors in mammalian female genital development. Synthesizing these findings, we support a less reductionist model that opens the possibility to more research on oestrogen-dependent female sex differentiation and defines female sex development as an active, regulated process rather than a default state. Finally, we situate the 'absence' model of femaleness within its broader cultural and symbolic contexts. Through a material-semiotic analysis, we demonstrate how scientific concepts of sex are co-constituted with wider social meanings, and how this interplay shapes what is rendered visible or invisible in biological research.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion: &lt;/strong&gt;Emerging from a multidisciplinary dialogue between biomedicine, the history of science, and feminist science studies, our review highlights how cultural assumptions of gender are embedded within scientific practices of analyzing sex-differences. By integrating reflexive humanities perspectives with empirical biomedical research, we argue for a more accurate and equitable understanding of female development - one that recognizes oestrogenic activity as central to sex differentiation and challenges the reduction of femaleness to hormonal absence. This cross-disciplinary engagement illustrates the transformative potential of re-examining foundational scientific paradigms through collaborative, critical inquiry. Research on how sex develops in mammals was based for a long time on a simple binary model: male development is an active process driven by androgens, while female development happens passively when these hormones are absent. Our article re-challenges this long-standing view by referring to the history of the concept of female sex development as a pass","PeriodicalId":8890,"journal":{"name":"Biology of Sex Differences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13063871/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147509177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sex differences in the strategies of haptic object memory in early adulthood.","authors":"Lea Fröscher, Matthias W Riepe","doi":"10.1186/s13293-026-00880-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13293-026-00880-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Everyday life inevitably involves touch. Encoding, recalling, and recognizing objects by touch requires haptic object memory, which is thought to rely on both verbal and visual capabilities. This raises the question of whether performance or strategies used to solve haptic memory tasks are sex-dependent. We assessed 45 healthy young adults (27 females, 18 males; aged 18-36 years) with repeated measurements. Participants were asked to encode ten everyday objects while blindfolded and allowed to explore them by touch. After a five-minute delay, participants were asked to recall as many objects as possible and subsequently to recognize the objects from a set of five conceptually identical but perceptually different alternatives with their eyes open. Regardless of whether participants correctly identified the object, they were then allowed to touch it. Performance did not differ between women and men in all memory phases. However, men appeared to rely less on verbal memory and instead used mental rotation as a compensatory strategy during encoding. Women who in this sample showed better verbal memory performance, did not require such backup strategies for encoding. During the recognition task, the results suggest that men may have relied on mental rotation, whereas women may have favored verbal strategies. These findings indicate a tendency toward different strategy preferences rather than fixed sex-specific mechanisms. However, given the modest sample size, these findings should be interpreted cautiously and warrant replication in larger cohorts. Nonetheless, we conclude that when task demands increase, men may compensate by engaging mental object rotation.</p>","PeriodicalId":8890,"journal":{"name":"Biology of Sex Differences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13063925/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147503138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}