Cited by 87Sexual Differentiation and DisordersGenetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal AbnormalitiesSperm and Testicular Function

The differential role of androgens in early human sex development

Open access
Hiort, Olaf·2013·BMC Medicine

Abstract

Sexual development in humans is only partly understood at the molecular level. It is dependent on genetic control primarily induced by the sex chromosomal differences between males and females. This leads to the development of the gonads, whereby afterwards the differentiation of the apparent phenotype is controlled by hormone action. Sex steroids may exert permanent and temporary effects. Their organizational features of inducing permanent changes in phenotype occur through genetic control of downstream genes. In this, androgens are the key elements for the differentiation of male internal and external genitalia as well as other sexual organs and general body composition, acting through a single androgen receptor. The androgen receptor is a nuclear transcription factor modulating DNA transcription of respective target genes and thereby driving development and growth in a stringent manner. The specificity of androgen action seems to be a strictly time-controlled process with the androgen receptor acting in concert with different metabolites and an array of cofactors modulating the cellular response and thereby permanently altering the phenotype of any given individual. For every cell programmed by androgens, a specific 'androgen response index' must be proposed.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1186/1741-7015-11-152

Cites

42 of 42 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Sex determination is led by genes on sex chromosomes and release of sex hormones, especially androgens and estrogens, primarily from gonads, exerting effects on body, brain, and behavior.

    “This process is led by genes located on the sex chromosomes and the release of sex hormones, especially androgens and estrogens, coming primarily from the gonads and exerting effects on the body, brain, and behavior [10–13].”

    From Sex chromosomes and sex hormones differently shape microglial properties during normal physiological conditions in the adult mouse hippocampus (2025) · cites this paper as [12]

    The Introduction’s developmental-aspects section links X- and Y-chromosome genes to sexual development, describes hormones secreted mainly by the testes, and reports sex-steroid effects on the body, brain, and behavior. The paper specifically discusses androgens, but the cited passages do not substantiate the claim’s added emphasis on estrogens. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Hiort, O.
Affiliations
University of Lübeck (DE)
Corresponding author
Hiort, Olaf
Venue
BMC Medicine
Published
2013-06-24
Volume
11
Issue
1
Pages
152-152
ISSN
1741-7015 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1973733021
Cited by
87
References
42
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 1
FWCI
1.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • BMC Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
European Commission (201444)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Sperm and Testicular Function
Keywords
androgens, androgen receptor, gonadal differentiation, sex determination, transcriptional regulation, cofactors, body composition
MeSH terms
Androgens, Animals, Cell Differentiation, Female, Humans, Male, Sex Differentiation, Disorders of Sex Development, Sexual Development

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review