Karyotypic analysis of intersexuality in Chinese from Taiyuan.

AIM: To analyze the kayrotypic patterns of 33 cases of intersexuality in Chinese from Taiyuan, China in order to further clarify its mechanism of development and the interrelationship between karyotype and phenotypic sex.

METHODS

High-resolution GTG-banding chromosome technique was used to analyze the karyotype patterns.

RESULTS

In these patients, 57.58% were male pseudohermaphrodites (46,XY), 18.18%, female pseudohermaphrodites (46, XX), 12.12%, true hemaphrodites, and 12.12%, other karyotypes. Although testes can be seen in 88.8% of karyotypes with Y chromosome, 73.68% of the patients were of female social sex. In 42.82% of patients the social sex is in conformity with their karyotypes. There were 2 cases of male pseudohermaphrodites, where the sex chromosome was normal, but abnormalities were found in chromosomes 9, 13, or 14.

CONCLUSION

Sex chromosomes determine the direction of gonadal and sex differentiation, while the development of the normal gonad and external genitalia should have the participation of many autosomal chromosomes as well.