Effects of developmental and adult androgens on male abdominal adiposity

We present results from 42 gay men who completed a survey including self-measurement of waist circumference, height, and weight, in addition to providing saliva samples for the assay of testosterone, and a photocopy of the right hand for the measure of second-to-fourth digit length ratio (2D:4D), proposed as a means of approximating androgenic effects during development. The analyses were conducted as a test of the recent hypothesis, proposed by Abbott et al. ([2002] J Endocrinol 174:1-5), that high prenatal androgen exposure causes greater deposition of fat on the abdomen relative to other depots. We found support for this hypothesis in men, albeit in a limited sample and with self-reported and self-collected data. (C) 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.