Anna Kasielska-Trojan
Bogusław Antoszewski1
John T. Manning- 1Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Clinic, Institute of Surgery, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
- 2School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise, and Medicine (A-STEM), Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
Editorial on the Research Topic
Exploring anthropometric markers in hormonal exposure and endocrine disease pathophysiology
Anthropometric measurements, encompassing body proportions and asymmetries, are pivotal in understanding prenatal development, postnatal growth, and the onset of various diseases. Anthropometric markers can also reveal early hormonal exposures. For instance, the digit ratio (2D:4D) is sexually dimorphic and serves as an indicator of 1st trimester sex steroid exposure, with a lower ratio suggesting higher prenatal testosterone levels, as proposed by Manning et al. (1998) (1). Different 2D:4D patterns reflecting prenatal sex hormone exposure have been reported to be associated with a number of hormone-related diseases, e.g. idiopathic gynecomastia, autoimmune thyroid disorders, systemic lupus (2–4). Our Research Topic aimed to evaluate the role of wide spectrum of anthropometric markers indicating prenatal and postnatal hormone exposure, in understanding the pathophysiology of various diseases and conditions. We highlighted the investigation of the potential of anthropometric features, asymmetries, and ratios in identifying individuals at heightened risk of developing endocrine disorders. Additionally, we aimed to improve our understanding of how these markers can aid in diagnosing hormonal imbalances and endocrine diseases. Finally, we believe these insights can be used to inform public health strategies, such as targeted prophylactic examinations and educational campaigns for at-risk populations.
Life quality and its correlates are strongly associated with the concept of health and disease. Sexual functioning and the quality of sleep seem to be an important domain for the quality of life, with androgens playing a key role in its regulation for both men and women. In their series of two articles Bartoszek et al. and Bartoszek et al. aimed to examine these correlates of life quality from the aspect of prenatal androgens exposure (PAE) influence. Specifically, their goal was to explore potential correlations between the 2D:4D and sexual disorders, depression, anxiety, and sleep. With regard to sexual aspect, they found high PAE was associated with a greater openness to casual relationships, particularly among women, while low-PAE individuals prioritized intelligence over physical traits in partner preferences. These findings suggest that PAE, as measured by the 2D:4D ratio, may be associated with adult psychosocial traits. Innovatively, the authors explored the influence of PAE on sleep-related disturbances and found a link with sleep efficiency and chronotype. Men with lower PAE exhibited poorer sleep quality. Both studies highlighted the need for further research in more diverse populations and into gender-specific sleep regulation mechanisms.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is another common condition among women of reproductive age, with a prevalence around 10–15% (5). The syndrome is characterized by hormonal disorders, including hyperandrogenism, insulin resistance and thyroid dysfunction (6–9). Two articles addressed the problem of this condition regarding a predictive role of anthropometric variables and thyroid function in offspring birth features and adult cardiometabolic risk. Trouva et al. investigated whether maternal thyroid function influenced newborn anthropometrics in PCOS. They found that a higher maternal thyroxin in early pregnancy and its greater decrease during pregnancy was associated with a lower offspring birthweight and shorter birth length. It appears that subclinical variations in maternal thyroid function play a role in influencing birth anthropometrics of PCOS offspring. This further suggests that these anthropometric variables depend on hormones and can serve as markers for hormonal disorders. Valencia-Ortega et al. aimed to verify the relation between maternal concentrations of organokines (progranulin (PGRN), adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (AFABP), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21)) throughout pregnancy with anthropmetrics. The latter included neonatal weight and length at birth and at one month of age, in addition to the percentage of fat mass at one month of age. It appeared that these organokines and maternal characteristics can be useful in the prediction of neonatal weight, length, and percentage fat mass. However, Jabczyk et al. found that in women with PCOS variables used to assess body fat, such as BMI, BAI, WHR, and WHtR, appeared to be poor predictors of adult dyslipidemia.
Articles gathered in this Research Topic highlight the role of anthropometric features in understanding pathophysiology of some hormone-related disorders and abnormalities. These anthropometric traits may reflect hormonal concentrations during narrow developmental windows (e.g. 2D:4D as a marker for 1st trimester PAE) or throughout the prenatal period and into postnatal development (e.g. adiposity markers such as BMI, WHR). Such simple traits can aid in diagnosing hormonal imbalances and endocrine diseases. They may also give us information regarding prognosis, suggest treatment interventions and inform public health strategies.
Author contributions
AK: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. BA: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. JM: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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The author(s) declare that no Generative AI was used in the creation of this manuscript.
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References
1. Manning JT, Scutt D, Wilson J, Lewis-Jones DI. The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length: A predictor of sperm numbers and concentrations of testosterone, luteinizing hormone and oestrogen. Hum Reprod. (1998) 13:3000–4. doi: 10.1093/HUMREP/13.11.3000
2. Święchowicz B, Kasielska-Trojan A, Manning JT, Antoszewski B. Can digit ratio (2D:4D) be indicative of predispositions to autoimmune thyroid diseases in women - hashimoto thyroiditis and graves’ Disease? Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). (2022) 13:914471. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.914471
3. Kasielska-Trojan A, Antoszewski B. Can digit ratio (2D:4D) studies be helpful in explaining the aetiology of idiopathic gynecomastia? Early Hum Dev. (2015) 91:57–61. doi: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2014.12.001
4. Doe K, Nozawa K, Hirai T, Tsushima H, Hayashi E, Hiruma K, et al. Second-to-fourth digit ratio in systemic lupus erythematosus. J Rheumatol. (2015) 42:826–8. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.140974
5. Yildiz BO, Bozdag G, Yapici Z, Esinler I, Yarali H. Prevalence, phenotype and cardiometabolic risk of polycystic ovary syndrome under different diagnostic criteria. Hum Reprod (Oxford England). (2012) 27:3067–73. doi: 10.1093/humrep/des232
6. Azziz R, Carmina E, Chen Z, Dunaif A, Laven JS, Legro RS, et al. Polycystic ovary syndrome. Nat Rev Dis Primers. (2016) 2:16057. doi: 10.1038/nrdp.2016.57
7. DeUgarte CM, Bartolucci AA, Azziz R. Prevalence of insulin resistance in the polycystic ovary syndrome using the homeostasis model assessment. Fertil Steril. (2005) 83:1454–60. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2004.11.070
8. Ding X, Yang L, Wang J, Tang R, Chen Q, Pan J, et al. Subclinical hypothyroidism in polycystic ovary syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Endocrinol. (2018) 9:700. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2018.00700
Keywords: anthropometric markers, digit ratio (2D:4D), endocrine diseases, BMI - body mass index, pathophysiology
Citation: Kasielska-Trojan A, Antoszewski B and Manning JT (2025) Editorial: Exploring anthropometric markers in hormonal exposure and endocrine disease pathophysiology. Front. Endocrinol. 16:1600797. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1600797
Received: 26 March 2025; Accepted: 09 April 2025;
Published: 17 April 2025.
Edited and Reviewed by:
Wei Ge, University of Macau, ChinaCopyright © 2025 Kasielska-Trojan, Antoszewski and Manning. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Anna Kasielska-Trojan, YW5uYWthc0B0b3lhLm5ldC5wbA==