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PloS One 2024To assess the prevalence and associated factors of Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) in children and adolescents.
OBJECTIVES
To assess the prevalence and associated factors of Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) in children and adolescents.
METHOD
A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted with children and adolescents aged 10 to 18 years, who presented a history of peripatellar and/or retropatellar pain, attending elementary or high school in urban public schools in Natal, Brazil. The sample size was calculated based on a minimum outcome prevalence of 22%.
RESULTS
A prevalence of 24.7% of PFPS was found. There was a positive association of PFPS with active students (p < 0.01; PR: 2.5; CI: 1.4-4.5), low functional capacity (p < 0.01; PR: 8.0; CI: 5.0-12.8), and those classified as pubertal (p < 0.03; PR: 1.8; CI: 1.0-3.2).
CONCLUSION
There was a considerable prevalence of PFPS in children and adolescents, as well as an association between the level of sexual maturation and adjustable determinants, such as the level of physical activity and low functional capacity in this group.
Topics: Child; Humans; Adolescent; Cross-Sectional Studies; Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome; Exercise Therapy; Exercise; Prevalence
PubMed: 38625853
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300683 -
Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology Aug 2024Using a three-dimensional (3-D) in vitro culture model, we report the dose dependent effect of 17β-estradiol and testosterone on the adipogenic differentiation and...
Using a three-dimensional (3-D) in vitro culture model, we report the dose dependent effect of 17β-estradiol and testosterone on the adipogenic differentiation and maturation of human adipose derived stem cells (hASCs) obtained from female and male patients. Considering sexual dimorphism, we expected male and female adipocytes to respond differently to the sex steroids. Both male and female hASC spheroids were exposed to 100 nM and 500 nM of 17β-estradiol and testosterone either at the beginning of the adipogenic maturation (Phase I) to discourage intracellular triglyceride accumulation or exposed after adipogenic maturation (Phase II) to reduce the intracellular triglyceride accumulation. The results show that 17β-estradiol leads to a dose dependent reduction in intracellular triglyceride accumulation in female hASC spheroids compared to the both untreated and testosterone-treated cells. Affirming our hypothesis, 17β-estradiol prevented intracellular triglyceride accumulation during Phase I, while it stimulated lipolysis during Phase II. PPAR-γ and adiponectin gene expression also reduced upon 17β-estradiol treatment in female cells. Interestingly, 17β-estradiol and testosterone had only a modest effect on the male hASC spheroids. Collectively, our findings suggest that 17β-estradiol can prevent fat accumulation in adipocytes during early and late stages of maturation in females.
Topics: Humans; Adipogenesis; Male; Female; Estradiol; Testosterone; Sex Characteristics; Adiponectin; Triglycerides; Spheroids, Cellular; Cells, Cultured; PPAR gamma; Adipocytes; Stem Cells; Adipose Tissue; Lipolysis
PubMed: 38604550
DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2024.112249 -
Anatomical Science International Jun 2024Because experimental studies to determine the developmental toxicity of exposure to various substances in children are impossible, many studies use immature male rats....
Because experimental studies to determine the developmental toxicity of exposure to various substances in children are impossible, many studies use immature male rats. This study aimed to provide normative data for longitudinal bone growth with age during the puberty in male rats. In order to evaluate long bone growth and mineralization we examined bone size and bone density by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, analyzed histomorphometry of the growth plate, and serum hormone levels relevant to bone growth from postnatal day (PD)20 to PD60. The length and weight of long bones increased strongly by PD40, and no further increase was observed after PD50. On the other hand, tibial growth plate height decreased sharply after PD50 along with a reduction in the number of cells and columns, which was probably responsible for the absence of further lengthening of long bones. Parameters related to bone formation such as bone area ratio, and the thickness and number of trabeculae, also increased significantly between PD40 and PD50. Furthermore, serum levels of IGF-1 peaked at PD30 and testosterone increased rapidly on and after PD40, when IGF-1 levels were going down. These changes may participate in the parallel increase in mineral acquisition, as well as lengthening of long bones. Our findings provide comprehensive data for changes in bone density, histomorphometry of long bones, and hormone levels relevant to bone growth during the growth spurt. This will be useful for planning animal toxicological studies, particularly for deciding on the appropriate age of animals to use in given experiments.
Topics: Animals; Male; Bone Density; Absorptiometry, Photon; Rats; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; Bone Development; Testosterone; Tibia; Growth Plate; Rats, Wistar; Sexual Maturation
PubMed: 38598056
DOI: 10.1007/s12565-024-00766-6 -
Endocrinology Mar 2024We examined the effect of the puberty blocker, leuprolide acetate, on sex differences in juvenile rough-and-tumble play behavior and anxiety-like behavior in adolescent...
We examined the effect of the puberty blocker, leuprolide acetate, on sex differences in juvenile rough-and-tumble play behavior and anxiety-like behavior in adolescent male and female rats. We also evaluated leuprolide treatment on gonadal and pituitary hormone levels and activity-regulated cytoskeleton-protein messenger RNA levels within the adolescent amygdala, a region important both for rough-and-tumble play and anxiety-like behavior. Our findings suggest that leuprolide treatment lowered anxiety-like behavior during adolescent development, suggesting that the maturation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone systems may be linked to increased anxiety. These data provide a potential new model to understand the emergence of increased anxiety triggered around puberty. Leuprolide also reduced masculinized levels of rough-and-tumble play behavior, lowered follicle-stimulating hormone, and produced a consistent pattern of reducing or halting sex differences of hormone levels, including testosterone, growth hormone, thyrotropin, and corticosterone levels. Therefore, leuprolide treatment not only pauses sexual development of peripheral tissues, but also reduces sex differences in hormones, brain, and behavior, allowing for better harmonization of these systems following gender-affirming hormone treatment. These data contribute to the intended use of puberty blockers in stopping sex differences from developing further with the potential benefit of lowering anxiety-like behavior.
Topics: Animals; Leuprolide; Male; Female; Anxiety; Rats; Behavior, Animal; Sexual Maturation; Sex Characteristics; Amygdala; Corticosterone; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Testosterone
PubMed: 38597659
DOI: 10.1210/endocr/bqae046 -
Ecology and Evolution Apr 2024Neoteny is a developmental strategy wherein an organism reaches sexual maturity without associated adult characteristics. In salamanders, neoteny takes the form of...
Neoteny is a developmental strategy wherein an organism reaches sexual maturity without associated adult characteristics. In salamanders, neoteny takes the form of individuals retaining aquatic larval characteristics such as external gills upon maturation. Mole salamanders () occupy a wide range of habitats and areas across the North American continent, and display examples of non-neotenic, facultatively neotenic and obligate neotenic species, providing high variation for investigating the factors influencing the evolution of neoteny. Here, we use phylogenetic comparative methods to test existing hypotheses that neoteny is associated with elevational and latitudinal distribution, cave-associated isolation, and hybridisation-related polyploidy. We also test if neoteny influences the diversity of habitats a species can occupy, since the restriction to an aquatic life should constrain the availability of different niches. We find that neoteny tends to occur in a narrow latitudinal band between 20-30° North, with particularly narrow latitudinal ranges for obligate compared to facultative neotenic species (16-52° North). We also find that facultatively neotenic species occur at elevations more than twice as high as other species on average, and that species with a higher frequency of neoteny typically have lower habitat diversity. Our results suggest that evolutionary transitions between non-neotenic and facultative neoteny states occur at relatively high and approximately equal rates. Moreover, we estimate that obligate neoteny cannot evolve directly from non-neotenic species (and vice versa), such that facultative neoteny acts as an evolutionary 'stepping stone' to and from obligate neoteny. However, our transition rate estimates suggest that obligate neoteny is lost >4-times faster than it evolves, partly explaining the rarity of obligate species. These results support the hypothesis that low latitudes favour the evolution of neoteny, presumably linked to more stable (aquatic) environments due to reduced seasonality, but once evolved it may constrain the diversity of habitats.
PubMed: 38590547
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11240 -
BMC Biology Apr 2024Ten percent of the female population suffers from congenital abnormalities of the vagina, uterus, or oviducts, with severe consequences for reproductive and...
BACKGROUND
Ten percent of the female population suffers from congenital abnormalities of the vagina, uterus, or oviducts, with severe consequences for reproductive and psychological health. Yet, the underlying causes of most of these malformations remain largely unknown. ADGRA3 (GPR125) is involved in WNT signaling and planar cell polarity, mechanisms vital to female reproductive tract development. Although ADGRA3 is a well-established spermatogonial stem cell marker, its role within the female urogenital system remains unclear.
RESULTS
In this study, we found Adgra3 to be expressed throughout the murine female urogenital system, with higher expression pre-puberty than after sexual maturation. We generated a global Adgra3 mouse line and observed imperforate vagina in 44% of Adgra3 females, resulting in distension of the reproductive tract and infertility. Ovarian morphology, plasma estradiol, ovarian Cyp19a1, and vaginal estrogen receptor α (Esr1) expression were unaffected. However, compared to controls, a significantly lower bone mineral density was found in Adgra3 mice. Whereas vaginal opening in mice is an estrogen-dependent process, 17β-estradiol treatment failed to induce vaginal canalization in Adgra3 mice. Furthermore, a marked reduction in vaginal and ovarian progesterone receptor expression was observed concomitant with an upregulation of apoptotic regulators Bcl2, Bid, and Bmf in adult Adgra3 females with a closed vagina.
CONCLUSIONS
Our collective results shed new insights into the complex mechanisms by which the adhesion receptor ADGRA3 regulates distal vaginal tissue remodeling during vaginal canalization via altered sex hormone responsiveness and balance in apoptotic regulators. This highlights the potential of ADGRA3 as a target in diagnostic screening and/or therapy for obstructive vaginal malformations in humans.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Mice; Female; Incidence; Vagina; Estrogens; Uterus; Estradiol
PubMed: 38589878
DOI: 10.1186/s12915-024-01873-6 -
Zoological Science Feb 2024Ovarian follicle development is an essential process for continuation of sexually reproductive animals, and is controlled by a wide variety of regulatory factors such as... (Review)
Review
Ovarian follicle development is an essential process for continuation of sexually reproductive animals, and is controlled by a wide variety of regulatory factors such as neuropeptides and peptide hormones in the endocrine, neuroendocrine, and nervous systems. Moreover, while some molecular mechanisms underlying follicle development are conserved, others vary among species. Consequently, follicle development processes are closely related to the evolution and diversity of species. type A () is a cosmopolitan species of ascidians, which are the closest relative of vertebrates. However, unlike vertebrates, ascidians are not endowed with the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis involving pituitary gonadotropins and sexual steroids. Combined with the phylogenetic position of ascidians as the closest relative of vertebrates, such morphological and endocrine features suggest that ascidians possess both common and species-specific regulatory mechanisms in follicle development. To date, several neuropeptides have been shown to participate in the growth of vitellogenic follicles, oocyte maturation of postvitellogenic follicles, and ovulation of fully mature follicles in a developmental stage-specific fashion. Furthermore, recent studies have shed light on the evolutionary processes of follicle development throughout chordates. In this review, we provide an overview of the neuropeptidergic molecular mechanism in the premature follicle growth, oocyte maturation, and ovulation in , and comparative views of the follicle development processes of mammals and teleosts.
Topics: Animals; Female; Phylogeny; Ovulation; Ciona intestinalis; Ovarian Follicle; Neuropeptides; Mammals
PubMed: 38587518
DOI: 10.2108/zs230054 -
Zoological Science Feb 2024The Japanese spiny lobster lives on rocky shores and is mainly distributed along the Pacific coast around Japan. Due to the high demand for it, the development of...
The Japanese spiny lobster lives on rocky shores and is mainly distributed along the Pacific coast around Japan. Due to the high demand for it, the development of aquaculture systems and increasing its resource volume requires further expansive production. However, a major factor preventing the establishment of aquaculture technology for this lobster is the difficulty with rearing processes from larval to juvenile production. A recent study shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying larval development from the perspective of physiological functions of endocrine factors such as molting hormones. However, physiological studies of are still lacking. In decapod crustaceans, the X-organ/sinus gland complex is a well-known endocrine system that secretes the crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH)-superfamily peptides that regulate growth, molting, sexual maturation, reproduction, and change in body color. In this study, we identified two CHHs from the sinus glands of using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography in order to elucidate their physiological function for the first time.
Topics: Animals; Palinuridae; Japan; Invertebrate Hormones; Decapoda; Nerve Tissue Proteins; Arthropod Proteins
PubMed: 38587513
DOI: 10.2108/zs230041 -
Zoological Science Feb 2024The endocrine and neuroendocrine systems exert powerful and broad control over the regulation of homeostasis in animals. Secreted hormones play significant roles in...
The endocrine and neuroendocrine systems exert powerful and broad control over the regulation of homeostasis in animals. Secreted hormones play significant roles in lifetime-related events such as germ cell development, sexual maturation, development, metamorphosis, aging, feeding, and energy metabolism. Additionally, hormones, particularly sex steroid hormones, are involved in reproduction, including sexual behavior and dimorphism. Changes in body color protect against external enemies, and circadian rhythms direct physiology and behaviors in synchrony with light and dark cycles. Water and electrolyte metabolism are essential for survival in land or seawater. Both aquatic and terrestrial animals have developed a variety of endocrine and neuroendocrine systems that exquisitely manage water and electrolyte metabolism to support survival. In zoological science, many animal species are investigated for their unique life history phenomena, and many researchers bring original and unique research approaches to understand these phenomena. Exploring such a variety of animal species leads to an understanding of diversity and unity, and contributes to the development of comparative endocrinology. This Special Issue contains 15 papers focusing on the endocrine mechanisms involved in the aforementioned life phenomena.
Topics: Animals; Neurosecretory Systems; Aging; Hormones; Electrolytes; Water
PubMed: 38587511
DOI: 10.2108/zsj.41.1 -
Journal of Hazardous Materials May 2024To investigate the effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) on puberty in boys.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) on puberty in boys.
METHODS
695 subjects were selected from four primary schools in Chongqing, China. 675 urine samples from these boys were collected four PAH metabolites: 1-hydroxypyrene, 2-hydroxynaphthoic, 2-hydroxyfluorene, and 9-hydroxyphenanthrene. Pubertal development of 695 boys was assessed at follow-up visits starting in December 2015 and occurring every six months thereafter until now, data used in this article ending in June 2021. A total of 12 follow-up visits were performed. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze the relationship between PAH metabolite concentrations and indicators of pubertal timing.
RESULTS
The mean age at puberty onset of testicular volume, facial hair, pubic hair, first ejaculation, and axillary hair in boys was 11.66, 12.43, 12.51, 12.72 and 13.70 years, respectively. Cox proportional hazards regression models showed that boys with moderate level of 1-OHPyr exposure was associated with earlier testicular development (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.276, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.006-1.619), with moderate level of 2-OHNap were at higher risk of early testicular development (HR = 1.273, 95% CI: 1.002-1.617) and early axillary hair development (HR = 1.355, 95% CI: 1.040-1.764), with moderate level of 2-OHFlu was associated with earlier pubic hair development (HR = 1.256, 95% CI: 1.001-1.577), with high level of 9-OHPhe were at higher risk of early fisrt ejaculation (HR = 1.333, 95% CI: 1.005-1.767) and early facial hair development (HR = 1.393, 95% CI: 1.059-1.831).
CONCLUSION
Prepubertal exposure to PAHs may be associated with earlier pubertal development in boys.
Topics: Humans; Male; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; Child; Adolescent; Puberty; Longitudinal Studies; China; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Pollutants; Sexual Maturation; Testis; Proportional Hazards Models
PubMed: 38574665
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134160