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Heritability of Testis Size

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

G. Frederiek Estourgie-van Burk ,
Meike Bartels ,
Henriette A. Delemarre-van de Waal  and
Dorret I. Boomsma
G. Frederiek Estourgie-van Burk*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands. [email protected]
Meike Bartels
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Henriette A. Delemarre-van de Waal
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Pediatrics, LUMC University Hospital Leiden, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Dorret I. Boomsma
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
*
*Address for correspondence: G.F. Estourgie-van Burk, Department of Pediatrics, VU University Medical Center, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Abstract

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Testis size is an important feature of male pubertal development. The genetic and environmental contributions to variation in human testis size have hardly been studied. We estimated the heritability of human testicular size in a group of mono- and dizygotic twins and their non-twin brothers (145 twins and 20 brothers from 95 families). Participants were 18 years old on average and all had reached Tanner development stage 4 or higher. Dizygotic twins and their siblings had a larger mean testis volume than monozygotic twins and their siblings. There was significant familial resemblance, with higher correlations in monozygotic twin pairs (0.59) than in dizygotic twin and sibling pairs (0.34). Heritability was estimated at 59% (95% CI = 37–75%), but a model that excluded genetic influences and attributed all familial resemblance to shared environment, fitted the data only marginally worse. The finding of larger mean testis volume in dizygotic twins may be of interest for future research into the mechanisms underlying dizygotic twinning.

Keywords

familial effectsgeneticstesticular volumetwins
Type
Articles
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , 01 August 2009 , pp. 351 - 355
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009