PLoS ONE (Jan 2013)

Genetic polymorphisms related to testosterone metabolism in intellectually gifted boys.

  • Peter Celec,
  • Denisa Tretinárová,
  • Gabriel Minárik,
  • Andrej Ficek,
  • Tomáš Szemes,
  • Silvia Lakatošová,
  • Eva Schmidtová,
  • Ján Turňa,
  • Ľudevít Kádaši,
  • Daniela Ostatníková

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054751
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
p. e54751

Abstract

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Prepubertal testosterone levels are lower in intellectually gifted boys. The aim of this pilot study was to analyze potential genetic factors related to testosterone metabolism in control and gifted boys. Intellectually gifted (IQ>130; n = 95) and control (n = 67) boys were genotyped. Polymorphisms of interests were chosen in genes including androgen and estrogen receptors, 5-alpha reductase, aromatase and sex hormone binding globulin. Significant differences between control and gifted boys in genotype distributions were found for ESR2 (rs928554) and SHBG (rs1799941). A significantly lower number of CAG repeats in the AR gene were found in gifted boys. Our results support the role of genetic factors related to testosterone metabolism in intellectual giftedness. Increased androgen signaling might explain previous results of lower testosterone levels in intellectually gifted boys and add to the understanding of variability in cognitive abilities.