Pubertal assessment methodology and baseline characteristics in a mixed longitudinal study of girls.
Frank M. Biro,MD (a), Susan M. Pinney,PhD (b), Bin Huang,PhD (a), Erin R. Baker,PhD (a),
Donald Walt Chandler,PhD (c), and Lorah D. Dorn,PhD.(d)
a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati OH
b Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati OH
c Esoterix Laboratories, Endocrine Sciences, Calabasas Hills CA
d The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
J Clin Endocrinol Metab, in press
doi: 10.1210/jc.2013-4528
Lay Abstract
In this study researchers at the Cincinnati site of the BCERC examined hormone changes relative to the onset of puberty. They used a new, more sensitive approach to hormone determination that allowed them to look at levels much lower that previous hormone level analytic approaches. They found that the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone rose 6-12 months before the girls appeared to go into puberty. When examining the changes in estradiol level at entry into puberty, obese girls had a blunted increase in serum estradiol levels, suggesting a source of estrogen from outside of the ovary. The authors speculated that the estrogen may have been produced through conversion of androgens from the adrenal gland into estrogen in their fat tissue.
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