This paper describes the case of a 25-year-old woman with virilisation occurring during pregnancy in the presence of metastatic colorectal cancer. Virilisation during pregnancy is rare. The potential causes include adrenal, foetal, or ovarian pathologies. The most common causes during pregnancy are pregnancy luteoma and hyperreactio luteinalis. The incidence of cancer during pregnancy is rare a...

Tributyltin pollution from antifouling paint is well known to disrupt the endocrine system in female marine gastropods. The masculinization of females, including the aberrant growth of a penis and vas deferens and occlusion of the capsule gland, has been reported primarily in neogastropods and is particularly well documented in muricids. Compared to temperate areas, few studies of imposex have ...

One of the most common techniques for producing mono-sex populations is steroid-induced sex inversion. This involves the administration of synthetic androgens (to produce male populations) or estrogens (to produce female populations). Several methods of steroid administration are possible, including injection, microencapsulation, feeding of steroid, and immersion of fry in steroid solutions. Th...

The present study investigated evidence for an interaction between two of the best established etiologic factors, or markers of etiologic factors, in the literature on male homosexuality: fraternal birth order and hand preference. By combining five samples, the authors produced study groups of 1774 right-handed heterosexuals, 287 non-right-handed heterosexuals, 928 right-handed homosexuals, and...

Aminoglutethimide was introduced as an anticonvulsant drug in the U.S.A. in 1960. The occurrence of a number of side-effects, including several endocrine effects such as goitrogenesis, sexual precocity and virilization, led to its withdrawal. Further investigation indicated that the drug inhibited adrenal biosynthesis, particularly of aldosterone, cortisol and androgens, probably by interfering...

Anogenital distance (AGD) and the ratio of the second (index) to fourth (ring) digit lengths (2D:4D) are two widely used indicators of prenatal androgen exposure. The former is commonly used in rodent models, while the latter is principally used in human studies. We investigated variation in these two traits in C57BL/6J mice to test the hypothesis that variation in these two traits reflect a co...

Ghrelin, a gut peptide with key actions on food intake and GH secretion, has been recently recognized as potential regulator of reproductive function. Thus, in adult female rats, ghrelin has been proven to modulate GnRH/LH secretion, with predominant inhibitory effects in vivo. We analyze herein potential direct pituitary effects of ghrelin on basal and GnRH-stimulated gonadotropin secretion in...

Epidermoid cysts are slowly growing tumors that arise due to invagination of epidermis into dermis either spontaneously or following trauma. While common locations are the face, scalp, neck and trunk, external genitalia can also be affected with scrotal, labial or clitoral involvement. Clitoral location of this lesion may produce local sign of virilization in the form of clitoromegaly. This can...

Doubly uniparental inheritance of mitochondria (DUI) is best known in the blue mussel Mytilus. Under this model, two types of mitochondrial DNA exist: female type (F), transmitted from females to offspring of both genders, and male type (M), transmitted exclusively from males to sons. The mitogenomes are usually highly divergent, but an occasional replacement of a typical M genome by a particul...