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Heritability of Testosterone Levels in 12-Year-Old Twins and Its Relation to Pubertal Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Rosa A. Hoekstra*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Ra.Hoekstra@psy.vu.nl
Meike Bartels
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Dorret I. Boomsma
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
*
*Address for correspondence: Rosa Hoekstra, Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Abstract

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The aim of this study was to estimate the heritability of variation in testosterone levels in 12-year-old children, and to explore the overlap in genetic and environmental influences on circulating testosterone levels and androgen-dependent pubertal development. Midday salivary testosterone samples were collected on 2 consecutive days in a sample of 183 unselected twin pairs. Androgen-induced pubertal development was assessed using self-report Tanner scales of pubic hair development (boys and girls) and genital development (boys). A significant contribution of genetic effects to the variance in testosterone levels was found. Heritability was approximately 50% in both boys and girls. The remaining proportion of the variance in testosterone levels could be explained by nonshared environmental influences. The relatively high correlation between testosterone levels of opposite-sex dizygotic twins suggests that sex differences in genes influencing variation in testosterone levels have not yet developed in preand early puberty. Variance in pubertal development was explained by a large genetic component, moderate shared environmental influences, and a small nonshared environmental effect. Testosterone levels correlated moderately (r = .31) with pubertal development; the covariance between testosterone levels and pubertal development was entirely accounted for by genetic influences.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006