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Seminars in Reproductive Medicine Jul 2019The factors that trigger human puberty are among the central mysteries of reproductive biology. Several approaches, including mutational analysis of candidate genes,... (Review)
Review
The factors that trigger human puberty are among the central mysteries of reproductive biology. Several approaches, including mutational analysis of candidate genes, large-scale genome-wide association studies, whole exome sequencing, and whole genome sequencing have been performed in attempts to identify novel genetic factors that modulate the human hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis to result in premature sexual development. Genetic abnormalities involving excitatory and inhibitory pathways regulating gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion, represented by the kisspeptin ( and ) and makorin ring finger 3 () systems, respectively, have been associated with sporadic and familial cases of central precocious puberty (CPP). More recently, paternally inherited genetic defects of were identified in four families with nonsyndromic CPP and a metabolic phenotype. encodes a transmembrane protein that is important for adipose tissue homeostasis and neurogenesis and is located in the imprinted chromosome 14q32 region associated with Temple syndrome. In this review, we highlight the clinical and genetic features of patients with CPP caused by mutations and explore the involvement of Notch signaling and DLK1 in the control of pubertal onset.
Topics: Age Factors; Calcium-Binding Proteins; Genome-Wide Association Study; Humans; Membrane Proteins; Puberty; Receptors, Notch; Sexual Maturation; Signal Transduction; Time Factors
PubMed: 31972862
DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-3400963 -
Problemy Endokrinologii Sep 2021The precocious puberty is an urgent problem of pediatric endocrinology characterized by clinical and pathogenetic heterogeneity. The appearance of secondary sex...
The precocious puberty is an urgent problem of pediatric endocrinology characterized by clinical and pathogenetic heterogeneity. The appearance of secondary sex characteristics before the age of 8 years in girls and 9 years in boys requires timely diagnosis and the appointment of pathogenetically justified treatment in order to achieve the target indicators of final growth and prevent social deprivation. The developed clinical guidelines are the main working tool of the practitioner. They briefly and structurally present the main information about the epidemiology and modern classification of рrecocious puberty, methods of its diagnosis and treatment based on the principles of evidence-based medicine.
Topics: Child; Female; Humans; Male; Puberty; Puberty, Precocious
PubMed: 34766494
DOI: 10.14341/probl12821 -
International Journal of Epidemiology Oct 2023Early puberty timing is associated with adverse health outcomes. We aimed to examine prospective associations between objectively measured physical activity and puberty...
BACKGROUND
Early puberty timing is associated with adverse health outcomes. We aimed to examine prospective associations between objectively measured physical activity and puberty timing in boys and girls.
METHODS
In the UK Millennium Cohort Study, physical activity volume and intensities at 7 years were measured using accelerometers. Status of several pubertal traits and age at menarche were reported at 11, 14 and 17 years. Age at menarche in girls was categorized into tertiles. Other puberty traits were categorized into earlier or later than the median ages calculated from probit models, separately in boys and girls. Multivariable regression models, with adjustment for maternal and child characteristics including body mass index (BMI) at age 7 years as potential confounders, were performed to test the associations of total daily activity counts and fractions of activity counts across intensities (in compositional models) with puberty timing, separately in boys (n = 2531) and girls (n = 3079).
RESULTS
Higher total daily activity counts were associated with lower risks for earlier (vs later) growth spurt, body hair growth, skin changes and menarche in girls, and more weakly with lower risks for earlier skin changes and voice breaking in boys (odds ratios = 0.80-0.87 per 100 000 counts/day). These associations persisted on additional adjustment for BMI at 11 years as a potential mediator. No association with puberty timing was seen for any physical activity intensity (light, moderate or vigorous).
CONCLUSIONS
More physical activity regardless of intensity may contribute to the avoidance of earlier puberty timing, independently of BMI, particularly in girls.
Topics: Male; Child; Female; Humans; Cohort Studies; Puberty; Menarche; Body Mass Index; Accelerometry
PubMed: 37208864
DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyad063 -
Annual Review of Psychology Jan 2019The assumption that early stress leads to dysregulation and impairment is widespread in developmental science and informs prevailing models (e.g., toxic stress). An... (Review)
Review
The assumption that early stress leads to dysregulation and impairment is widespread in developmental science and informs prevailing models (e.g., toxic stress). An alternative evolutionary-developmental approach, which complements the standard emphasis on dysregulation, proposes that early stress may prompt the development of costly but adaptive strategies that promote survival and reproduction under adverse conditions. In this review, we survey this growing theoretical and empirical literature, highlighting recent developments and outstanding questions. We review concepts of adaptive plasticity and conditional adaptation, introduce the life history framework and the adaptive calibration model, and consider how physiological stress response systems and related neuroendocrine processes may function as plasticity mechanisms. We then address the evolution of individual differences in susceptibility to the environment, which engenders systematic person-environment interactions in the effects of stress on development. Finally, we discuss stress-mediated regulation of pubertal development as a case study of how an evolutionary-developmental approach can foster theoretical integration.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Allostasis; Biological Evolution; Human Development; Humans; Puberty; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 30125133
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011732 -
Hormone Research in Paediatrics 2016Tall stature is a common reason for consultation of a paediatric endocrinologist. It is important to always consider underlying pathology. We propose a diagnostic... (Review)
Review
Tall stature is a common reason for consultation of a paediatric endocrinologist. It is important to always consider underlying pathology. We propose a diagnostic flowchart based on five questions. (1) Does the child have tall stature? (2) Is there evidence of a syndrome? (3) Has there been growth acceleration? (4) Are there signs of puberty? (5) Does the child grow within the target height range? Diagnostic tests can then be ordered targeted to the suspected disorder. The Bayley-Pinneau and Tanner-Whitehouse methods are reasonably accurate in predicting adult height based on bone age in girls, but neither method performs well in boys. Tall stature is not a pathological condition and generally does not need treatment. However, adolescents with a strong treatment wish and their parents should be counselled on the effectivity and safety of available treatments including surgery and high-dose sex steroids. Surgical epiphysiodesis has the advantage that a reasonable height reduction can be achieved at a more advanced bone age, allowing a more accurate adult height prediction to base any treatment decision on. We feel that high-dose oestrogen treatment should no longer be used because of its association with reduced fecundity and imminent ovarian failure.
Topics: Adolescent; Body Height; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Gonadal Steroid Hormones; Growth Disorders; Humans; Infant; Male; Pregnancy; Puberty
PubMed: 26845047
DOI: 10.1159/000443685 -
The Journal of Adolescent Health :... Mar 2021Risk markers for breast cancer include earlier onset of menarche (age at menarche [AAM]) and peak height velocity (PHV). Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is...
PURPOSE
Risk markers for breast cancer include earlier onset of menarche (age at menarche [AAM]) and peak height velocity (PHV). Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is associated with pubertal milestones, as well as cancer risk. This study examined the relationships between pubertal milestones associated with breast cancer risk and hormone changes in puberty.
METHODS
This is a longitudinal study of pubertal maturation in 183 girls, recruited at ages 6-7, followed up between 2004 and 2018. Measures included age at onset of puberty, and adult height attained; PHV; AAM; adult height, and serum IGF-1, and estrone-to-androstenedione (E:A) ratio.
RESULTS
PHV was greatest in early, and least in late maturing girls; length of the pubertal growth spurt was longest in early, and shortest in late maturing girls. Earlier AAM was related to greater PHV. IGF-1 concentrations tracked significantly during puberty; higher IGF-1 was related to earlier age of PHV, earlier AAM, greater PHV, and taller adult height. Greater E:A ratio was associated with earlier AAM.
CONCLUSIONS
Factors driving the association of earlier menarche and pubertal growth with breast cancer risk may be explained through a unifying concept relating higher IGF-1 concentrations, greater lifelong estrogen exposure, and longer pubertal growth period, with an expanded pubertal window of susceptibility.
Topics: Adult; Body Height; Breast Neoplasms; Child; Female; Humans; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; Longitudinal Studies; Menarche; Puberty
PubMed: 32888770
DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.07.016 -
Molecules and Cells Feb 2019Androgens act in almost all tissues throughout the lifetime and have important roles in skeletal muscles. The levels of androgens increase during puberty and remain... (Review)
Review
Androgens act in almost all tissues throughout the lifetime and have important roles in skeletal muscles. The levels of androgens increase during puberty and remain sustained at high levels in adulthood. Because androgens have an anabolic effect on skeletal muscles and muscle stem cells, these increased levels of androgens after puberty should lead to spontaneous muscle hypertrophy and hyperplasia in adulthood. However, the maintenance of muscle volume, myonuclei number per myofiber, and quiescent state of satellite cells in adulthood despite the high levels of androgens produces paradoxical outcomes. Our recent study revealed that the physiological increase of androgens at puberty initiates the transition of muscle stem cells from proliferation to quiescence by the androgen-Mindbomb1-Notch signaling axis. This newly discovered androgen action on skeletal muscles underscores the physiological importance of androgens on muscle homeostasis throughout life. This review will provide an overview of the new androgen action on skeletal muscles and discuss the paradoxical effects of androgens suggested in previous studies.
Topics: Androgens; Animals; Humans; Models, Biological; Muscle, Skeletal; Myoblasts; Puberty; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 30759971
DOI: 10.14348/molcells.2019.0004 -
BMC Pediatrics May 2024Over the decades the trends of early onset of puberty have been observed in children, particularly in girls. Research evidence has reported diet to be among the most...
INTRODUCTION
Over the decades the trends of early onset of puberty have been observed in children, particularly in girls. Research evidence has reported diet to be among the most important risk factors for puberty onset. This study evaluated the association between dietary behavior and puberty in girls.
METHODS
We enrolled 201 girls with the main complaints of breast development as the cases at the Endocrine Department of Nanjing Children's Hospital. The cases were divided into breast development with central priming and breast development without central priming groups and were matched with 223 normal health girls with no breast development (control group). We used the modified Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) to conduct a face-to-face interview about dietary behavior. Sample t-test or Mann Whitney U test or Chi-square test, the analysis of variance or Kruskal Wallis test, and least significant difference (LSD) were used to compare differences between the groups, Bonferroni was used to correct the p-value, and logistic regression was used to analyze risk factors for puberty onset.
RESULTS
A total of 424 girls participated in this study, among them, 136 were cases with breast development with central priming, 65 were cases with breast development without central priming, and 223 were normal health girls with no breast development. Age of the participants ranged from 4.5 to 9.3 years. There were significant differences in food response (p < 0.001), dietary restriction (p < 0.001), frequencies of vegetable intake (χ = 8.856, p = 0.012), drinking milk (χ = 23.099, p = 0.001), and borderline statistical difference in a total score of unhealthy dietary behavior (p = 0.053) among the cases and controls. However, in the post hoc analysis, these dietary behaviors were significant differences between the girls with breast development with central priming and the control groups. Moreover, girls in the breast development with central priming group had significantly higher bone age (BA), uterine body length, ovarian volume, basal luteinizing hormone (LH), basal follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), peak LH, peak FSH, estradiol (E2), and free triiodothyronine (FT3) compared to those in the breast development without central priming group. In the multivariate logistic regression, only uterine body length was associated with increased risk of breast development with central priming (OR = 1.516, 95%CI: 1.243-1.850).
CONCLUSION
There were significant differences in dietary behaviors among girls with breast development with central priming and normal health girls with no breast development, and uterine body length was associated with an increasing risk of breast development with central priming among girls with breast development.
Topics: Humans; Female; Child; Feeding Behavior; Puberty; Case-Control Studies; Risk Factors; Child, Preschool; Diet; Puberty, Precocious; Logistic Models; Breast
PubMed: 38773477
DOI: 10.1186/s12887-024-04840-w -
Human Reproduction Update Aug 2022Globally, the ages at pubertal onset for girls and boys have been decreasing during recent decades, partly attributed to excess body fat accumulation. However, a growing... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
Globally, the ages at pubertal onset for girls and boys have been decreasing during recent decades, partly attributed to excess body fat accumulation. However, a growing body of literature has recognized that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may play an important role in this global trend, but the association has not yet been fully established.
OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE
EDCs can interfere with normal hormone function and metabolism and play a role in pubertal onset. We aimed to systematically identify and evaluate the current evidence on the timing of pubertal onset in girls and boys following prenatal or postnatal exposures to xenobiotic EDCs.
SEARCH METHODS
Following PRISMA guidelines, we performed a systematic literature search of original peer-reviewed publications in the PubMed database through a block search approach using a combination of index MeSH and free text search terms. Publications were considered if they covered biomarkers of prenatal or postnatal exposures to xenobiotic EDCs (European Commission's list of category 1 EDCs) measured in maternal or child biospecimen and pubertal onset defined by the progression of the following milestones (and assessed in terms of the following measures): menarche (age), thelarche (Tanner staging) and pubarche (Tanner staging), in girls, and genital stage (Tanner staging), testicular volume (ml) and pubarche (Tanner staging), in boys.
OUTCOMES
The literature search resulted in 703 references, of which we identified 52 publications fulfilling the eligibility criteria for the qualitative trend synthesis and 23 publications for the meta-analysis. The qualitative trend synthesis provided data on 103 combinations of associations between prenatal or postnatal exposure to EDC compounds groups and puberty outcomes and the meta-analysis enabled 18 summary risk estimates of meta-associations.
WIDER IMPLICATIONS
Statistically significant associations in the qualitative trend synthesis suggested that postnatal exposure to phthalates may be associated with earlier thelarche and later pubarche. However, we did not find consistent evidence in the meta-analysis for associations between timing of pubertal onset in girls and boys and exposures to any of the studied xenobiotic EDCs. We were not able to identify specific pre- or postnatal windows of exposure as particularly critical and susceptible for effects of EDCs. Current evidence is subject to several methodological challenges and inconsistencies and evidence on specific exposure-outcome associations remains too scarce to firmly confirm EDC exposure as a risk factor for changes in age of pubertal onset in the general child population. To create a more uniform foundation for future comparison of evidence and to strengthen pooled studies, we recommend the use of more standardized approaches in the choice of statistical analyses, with exposure transformations, and in the definitions and assessments of puberty outcomes. The impact of mixtures of EDC exposures on the association also remains unestablished and would be valuable to elucidate for prenatal and postnatal windows of exposure. Future large, longitudinal epidemiological studies are needed to clarify the overall association.
Topics: Child; Endocrine Disruptors; Female; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Menarche; Pregnancy; Puberty; Xenobiotics
PubMed: 35466359
DOI: 10.1093/humupd/dmac013 -
Indian Pediatrics Feb 2015Small for gestational age infants have multifold increased risk of growth failure and adulthood disorders. Those who experience rapid catch up growth are at risk of... (Review)
Review
CONTEXT
Small for gestational age infants have multifold increased risk of growth failure and adulthood disorders. Those who experience rapid catch up growth are at risk of developing metabolic syndrome, whereas those without catch up may end up with short stature. These children are also prone to an altered pubertal development.
NEED AND PURPOSE
Scarcity of literature, lack of published guidelines on the follow-up and management plan of children born with small for gestational age.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION
Literature search in PubMed was conducted with regard to epidemiology, growth and puberty, comorbidities, its pathogenesis and management in small for gestational age, with particular relevance for developing countries. An algorithm for follow-up of these children is outlined, based on available empiric data.
CONCLUSIONS
Being born small for gestational age predisposes to many metabolic and pubertal disorders. Special emphasis is needed for early detection and management through early surveillance in growth clinics, and regular follow-up to prevent associated comorbidities.
Topics: Adolescent; Body Height; Child, Preschool; Fetal Growth Retardation; Humans; India; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Small for Gestational Age; Puberty
PubMed: 25691182
DOI: 10.1007/s13312-015-0588-z