EDMARC

International Center for Research and Research Training in

Endocrine Disruption of

Male Reproduction and Child Health

NEWS and ACTIVITES

PhD-thesis defence

February 2025
February 28, Margit Bistrup Fischer (MD) will defend her PhD thesis "Ovarian Function in Healthy infant Girls - associations with prenatal paracetamol exposure and future ovarian activity".
Based on a study of female minipuberty, including the assessment of uterine and ovarian morphology a mature regulation of the HPG axis in early infancy was demonstrated. The thesis also presents results from the first human study primarily designed to evaluate if fetal exposure to paracetamol is associated with ovarian function postnatally, demonstrating that paracetamol exposure affects both follicle count, AMH levels and uterine size in exposed females.

Men with good semen quality live longer

March 2025
New study of 78,284 men followed for up to 50 years through unique Danish registry data show that men with the best semen quality on average lived almost 3 year longer than men with the lowest sperm quality. The study by EDMaRC affiliated researchers Lærke Priskorn, Niels Jørgensen, Stine Holmboe, and Laura Hansen et al. was published in Human Reproduction accompanied by an editorial commentary by Robert John Aitken.
(doi: 10.1093/humrep/deaf023)

New grant: the role of EDCs for Danish men’s testicular function and fertility

November 2024
We are pleased to announce that EDMaRC researcher Niels Jørgensen and colleagues have received a grant from Independent Research Fund Denmark to investigate how men’s testicular function in early adulthood is associated with their later fertility and which role prenatal and adult exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals plays for the men’s testicular function and fertility.

PhD-thesis defence

February 2025
On February 21 EDMaRC researcher Trine Koch Hueg will defend her PhD thesis "Long-term health associated with bilateral oophorectomy – a cohort study"

EDMaRC in MERLON

January 2024
EDMaRC is partner in the new Research and Innovation action under the EU Horizon programme: MERLON - Merging Scientific Evidence with Regulatory Practices and Leveraging Identification of Endocrine Disruptors using New Approach Methodologies.
The project started 1. january 2024 and will last five years. The consortium is lead by Prof. Terje Svingen at Technical University of Denmark - DTU.

Chair & vice-chair of LOC

April 2024
Our EDMaRC colleagues Anders Juul and Katharina Main are leading the local organizing committee for the first joint scientific congress of the European Society of Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) and European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) planned in Copenhagen from May 10-13, 2025. The theme of the congress is "Connecting Endocrinology across the Life Course," highlighting the importance of considering the entire life cycle for disease prevention and optimizing endocrine care.

microRNAs as biomarkers of pubertal onset?

December 2023
Puberty marks the transition from childhood to adulthood and a decline in the age at pubertal onset has been observed over the past decades. No biomarkers for early detection of central puberty activation have been found so far. By receiving a grant from the Capital Region of Denmark, EDMaRC researcher Nina Mørup Nygaard has been given the opportunity to investigate microRNAs as biomarkers for pubertal onset in girls. This may give us a new method to diagnose girls with central precocious puberty.

New grant to study psychosocial consequences of infertility

December 2023
Infertility affects 15% of all couples with a desire to become parents, and the fear of not being able to become parents can be a great burden. Thus, we are proud that EDMaRC researcher Lærke Priskorn received a grant under the Inge Lehmann programme, Independent Research Fund Denmark, to investigate the specific psychosocial consequences of infertility and which couples are at particular risk of experiencing these, allowing us to take even better care of our infertile patients in the future.

Are small RNAs a novel class of hormones?

September 2023
Small RNAs can be secreted by specific cells into circulation and absorbed by other cells. In this way, small RNAs can potentially mediate a hormone-like effect. EDMaRC researcher Kristian Almstrup have just received funds from the Svend Andersen Foundation to unravel this question.

The Copenhagen Puberty Study III - COPUS

December 2023 update
The field work of COPUS was kicked off in February 2023 and by the end of the year we have examined 633 children and adolescents. We expect to include in total around 3000 children and adolescents from the Capital Region of Denmark over the next couple of years.

EDMaRC in PARC

May 2022
EDMaRC is one of two research centres representing the Capital Region of Denmark in the European Partnership on Assessment of Risk of Chemicals (PARC), which was launched May 2022. We are looking forward to collaboration both in the Danish PARC hub and with our European colleagues.

EDMaRC in EprObes

Summer 2023
EDMaRC represents RegionH as one of the partners in the EU funded project "EprObes - Preventing lifetime obesity by early risk-factor identification, prognosis and intervention". The project, which started in 2023 and will run for five years, is coordinated by prof. Manuel Tena-Sempere from University of Cordoba.

New Publications:

Semen quality and lifespan: a study of 78 284 men followed for up to 50 years

Priskorn et al. Human Reproduction 2025 in press (accompanied by an editorial comment)

(link to media coverage of the paper)

Serum Concentrations of Inhibin B in Healthy Females and Males Throughout Life.

Borelli-Kjær et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024, 110(1):70-77.

Prenatal phthalate exposure and pubertal development in 16-year-old daughters: reproductive hormones and number of ovarian follicles.

Assens et al. Hum Reprod. 2024, 39(11):2501-2511

Serum DLK1 during minipuberty and pubertal transition in healthy girls and in girls with precocious puberty.

Vilmann et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024 in press

Longitudinal evaluation of fetal and infant AGD in healthy children: Association With Penile Size, Testosterone, and DHT.

Fischer et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024, 109(12):3087-3095

Ovarian and uterine morphology in minipuberty: Associations with Reproductive Hormones. A COPANA Study of 302 girls.

Fischer et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024 in press

Sex- and age-specific reference intervals of 16 steroid metabolites quantified simultaneously by LC-MS/MS in sera from 2458 healthy subjects aged 0 to 77 years.

Frederiksen et al. Chim Acta. 2024, 562:119852.

Associations of maternal and paternal preconception and maternal pregnancy urinary phthalate biomarker and bisphenol A concentrations with offspring autistic behaviors: The PEACE study.

Uldbjerg et al. Environmental Research. 2024 263:120253

The epidemiology of cryptorchidism and potential risk factors, including endocrine disrupting chemicals.

Holmboe et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024,15:1343887.

Growth and Adult Height Attainment in Danish Transgender Adolescents Treated with GnRH Analog and Sex Hormones.

Norup et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024,109(11):2764-2773

The influence of body composition on the response to dynamic stimulation of the endocrine pituitary-testis axis.

Abildgaard et al. Int J Obes. 2024, 48(9):1216-1222

Cohort profile: The Copenhagen Analgesic Study-The COPANA cohort.

Fischer et al Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2024, 38(4):370-381

Low-serum antimüllerian hormone is linked with poor semen quality in infertile men screened for participation in a randomized controlled trial.

Holt et al. Fertil Steril. 2024, S0015-0282(24)00193-6.

Polygenic Scores for Adult Testosterone and SHBG Levels Are Associated With Reproductive Hormone Levels in Male Infants.

Busch et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2024,109(9):2343-2348

X‑chromosome loss rescues Sertoli cell maturation and spermatogenesis in Klinefelter syndrome.

Winge et al. Cell Death Dis. 2024, 15(6):396.

Time to pregnancy and life expectancy: a cohort study of 18 796 pregnant couples.

Lindahl-Jacobsen et al. Hum Reprod. 2024, 39(3):595-603

Girls with idiopathic central precocious puberty did not display substantial changes in body mass index after treatment with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues.

Uldbjerg et al. Acta Paediatr 2024, 113(7):1602-1611

Is male gynaecomastia associated with an increased risk of death? A nationwide register-based cohort study

Bräuner et al. BMJ Open. 2024, 14(2):e076608

(link to media coverage of the paper)

Cotinine concentrations in maternal serum and amniotic fluid during pregnancy and risk of testicular germ cell cancer in the offspring: A prospective nested case-control study.

Beck et al. Int J Cancer. 2024. 154:71-80

Ovarian Follicular Fluid Levels of Phthalates and Benzophenones in relation to Fertility Outcomes.

Beck et al. Env Int 2023, 183:108383

Time to pregnancy and life expectancy: A cohort study of 18796 pregnant couples.

Lindahl-Jacobsen et al. Hum Reprod 2023, 39(3):595-603.

Differentiation of Idiopathic Central Precocious Puberty from Premature Thelarche using Principal Component Analysis.

Cleemann Wang et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2023,109(2):370-379.

Maternal phthalate exposure during pregnancy and testis function of young adult sons.

Henriksen et al. Sci Total Environ. 2023, 871:161914.

Sex-independent timing of the onset of central puberty revealed by nocturnal luteinizing hormone concentrations.

Demir et al. Clinical Endocrinology. 2023 99(6): 552-558.

Prenatal paraben exposures and birth size: Sex-specific associations in a healthy population - A study from the Odense Child Cohort.

Bräuner et al. 2023 Sci Total Environ. 869:161748.

Reproductive hormones, bone mineral content, body composition and testosterone therapy in boys and adolescents with Klinefelter syndrome

Krabbe et al. 2023 Endocrine Connections. 12, 7, e230031.

Reduced serum concentrations of biomarkers reflecting Leydig and Sertoli cell function in male patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Johannsen et al. 2023 Endocrine Connections. 12, 8, e230073.

Testicular function is associated with cardiometabolic health markers: A cross-sectional study of 2289 young men.

Hansen et al. 2023 Andrology 11(3):561-574.

Pituitary-testis axis dysfunction following adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy

Abildgaard et al. 2023 Endocrine-Related Cancer. 30, 1, e220246.