The contribution of adrenal and gonadal androgens to the growth in height of adolescent males (original) (raw)
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Clinical Endocrinology, 1981
Two indices of free serum androgenic activity, the normalized androgen ration (NAR) and the free androgen index (FAI) were determined in 218 normal children aged 8-17.9 years. Before the onset of puberty and between chronological age 8 and 11.9 years, NAR and FAI were similar in both sexes, the NAR being less than 0.8 and FAI less than 0.1. In boys mean NAR value increased from 0.87 to 1.39 between 12.5 and 17.5 years, and mean FAI from 0.14 to 1.85 between 12.5 and 17.5 years. In girls mean NAR increased from 0.79 to 0.85 between 12.5 and 15.5 years, and mean FAI from 0.11 to 0.23, between 12.5 and 15.5 years. Both indices did not change significantly between 15.5 and 17.5 years in girls. A rapid increase in NAR and FAI occurred in boys from a mean testicular volume of 4.1 to greater than 20 ml and from genital stage G2+ to 5+. In girls a gradual increase in NAR and FAI occurred from breast stage B2+ to 5+ . Although the androgen indices increased in both sexes between pubic hair stages PH2+ and 6+, the values in girls were always less than in boys at corresponding stages suggesting an increased androgen sensitivity of the female pubic hair follicle during adolescence. The peak rise in NAR and FAI in boys between 13 and 15 years correlated closely with the timing of the pubertal growth spurt in this sex. A similar rise was not seen in girls at the time of their peak growth velocity between 11 and 13 years and suggested that androgens play only a minor or complementary part in the female growth spurt.
European Journal of Pediatrics, 1976
The mean growth hormone concentration during a 24-hour period in 7 boys of short familial stature and a growth rate of 3.2--5.4 era/year was between 1.0 and 4.6 ng/ml serum. In 7 boys with pubertal growth spurt and familial tallness (growth rate 7.2--11.0 cm/ year) it varied from 0.97 to 4.4 ng/ml and in 6 boys with constitutional delay of puberty (a growth rate of 4.2--5.2 era/year prior to puberty) from 1.3 to 4.3 ng/ml. No correlation was found between the 24-hour mean growth hormone concentration and the mean 24-hour testosterone concentration in serum or the growth rate, but a correlation was found between testosterone and the growth rate.
European Journal of Endocrinology, 2012
Background: Pubertal onset is usually defined by breast development in girls and testicular growth in boys. Pubarche is defined as the attainment of pubic hair and is considered as a sign of pubertal transition. Pubarche is preceded by a gradual increase in production of adrenal androgens, DHEA and D4-androstenedione (Adione), a process termed adrenarche. Objective: To study the natural course of pubertal transition and the associations with adrenarche, body fat, and linear growth. Design and methods: A longitudinal study of 179 healthy children (89 girls) with higher socioeconomic background examined every 6 months for 5 years. Pubic hair stage, breast stage, genital stage, testicular volume (TV), height, weight, and four skinfolds were measured. .4) in boys. Only 6.8% (4/59) of the girls and 24.6% (15/61) of the boys developed pubic hair as the first isolated sign of puberty. Serum DHEAS and Adione increased with age, although the increase in Adione was most pronounced in girls. No associations between early age at thelarche/testicular growth and increased body fat (BMI and sum of four skinfolds) were observed. Conclusion: Danish children rarely experience pubarche as the first sign of puberty. No associations between age at pubertal onset and body composition were found. Circulating levels of Adione, but not DHEAS, increased with the onset of puberty, although with large interindividual variability.
Journal of Adolescent Health, 2002
Somatic growth and maturation are influenced by a number of factors that act independently or in concert to modify an individual's genetic potential. The secular trend in height and adolescent development is further evidence for the significant influence of environmental factors on an individual's genetic potential for linear growth. Nutrition, including energy and specific nutrient intake, is a major determinant of growth. Paramount to normal growth is the general health and wellbeing of an individual; in fact, normal growth is a strong testament to the overall good health of a child. More recently the effect of physical activity and fitness on linear growth, especially among teenage athletes, has become a topic of interest. Puberty is a dynamic period of development marked by rapid changes in body size, shape, and composition, all of which are sexually dimorphic. One of the hallmarks of puberty is the adolescent growth spurt. Body compositional changes, including the regional distribution of body fat, are especially large during the pubertal transition and markedly sexually dimorphic. The hormonal regulation of the growth spurt and the alterations in body composition depend on the release of the gonadotropins, leptin, the sex-steroids, and growth hormone. It is very likely that interactions among these hormonal axes are more important than their main effects, and that alterations in body composition and the regional distribution of body fat actually are signals to alter the neuroendocrine and peripheral hormone axes. These processes are merely magnified during pubertal development but likely are pivotal all along the way from fetal growth to the aging process.
American Journal of Human Biology, 2001
This paper analyzed the intensity and duration of height growth during puberty in boys and girls in relation to rhythm of maturation. A longitudinal clinical follow-up between ages of 10 and 20 years, was carried out in a sample of 251 children grouped according to age at pubertal onset: boys (genital stage 2) at the ages of 11 (n ס 28), 12 (n ס 38), 13 (n ס 42), and 14 (n ס 27); and girls (breast stage 2) at the ages of 10 (n ס 37), 11 (n ס 47), 12 (n ס 19), and 13 (n ס 13). Height was measured annually. Testicular volume and genital development were assessed in boys, and breast development was assessed in girls. There were significant differences (P < 0.001) in height at the age of pubertal onset among maturity groups. Late maturers were taller than early maturers (r ס 0.49, P < 0.001 for girls; r ס 0.38, P < 0.001 for boys). However, final heights did not differ according to age of onset in either sex. In boys, later onset of puberty was associated with a smaller pubertal height gain (r ס −0.60, P < 0.001) and a shorter period of pubertal growth (r ס −0.61, P < 0.001). Equally in girls, earlier onset of puberty was associated with a greater pubertal height gain (r ס −0.68, P < 0.001) and a longer period of pubertal growth (r ס −0.59, P < 0.001). In conclusion, age of pubertal onset does not affect final height attained in both sexes, since there is an inverse compensatory phenomenon in both sexes between height at pubertal onset and the intensity and duration of pubertal growth. Am.
Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism, 1997
In a group of 22 boys with constitutional delay in growth and/or adolescence, intermittent testosterone enanthate treatment was employed in a randomized clinical trial at multiple doses ranging from 25-100 mg every two weeks for three month periods extending over 15-21 months. Twelve of the patients displayed a prompt increase in endogenous testosterone levels during the study period, reaching levels in the adult male range (>250 ng/dl). The remaining 10 boys showed sluggish changes in endogenous testosterone during the investigation, ranging from 35-177 ng/dl. The bone ages and testicular sizes of the two groups at study initiation did not differ though urine LH was significantly less at study entry in the slowly maturing group. The data reveal a great diversity in the pace and pattern of endogenous testosterone changes in the study population. The results also suggest that exogenous sex steroid treatment of such patients does not speed up the central nervous system processes controlling the onset and progression of puberty. Boys with delayed puberty should be followed until endogenous testosterone levels reach the adult male range in order to rule out mild gonadotropin deficits.
Pubertal Development: Correspondence Between Hormonal and Physical Development
Child Development, 2009
Puberty is advanced by sex hormones, yet it is not clear how it is best measured. The interrelation of multiple indices of puberty was examined, including the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS), a picture-based interview about puberty (PBIP), and a physical exam. These physical pubertal measures were then associated with basal hormones responsible for advancing puberty. Participants included 160 early adolescents (82 boys). Puberty indices were highly correlated with each other. The physical exam stages correlated well with boys' and girls' testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone and less so with girls' estradiol. The PDS and PBIP were similarly related to basal hormones. Self-report may be adequate when precise agreement is unnecessary. Multiple measures of puberty are viable options, each with respective strengths.
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2004
We have examined the relationship between serum androgen bioactivity, as measured with a recombinant cell bioassay, and progression of puberty in 14 boys with constitutional delay of puberty. Six boys were followed up without treatment (control group), and eight boys received low-dose (1 mg/kg) testosterone enanthate im for 0-6 months together with an aromatase inhibitor, letrozole, 2.5 mg orally once a day for 0-12 months (treatment group). In the control group, serum androgen bioactivity increased during the course of puberty (P < 0.001). During 0-12 months of the study, the boys in the treatment group had higher androgen bioactivity levels (P < 0.05) and faster rate of pubic hair growth than the control boys (P < 0.05). Overall, the average serum androgen bioactivity during 12 months of follow-up correlated strongly with the concomitant changes in Tanner genital (r S ؍ 0.89; n ؍ 13; P < 0.005) and pubic hair stages (r S ؍ 0.79; n ؍ 13; P < 0.01). In conclusion, our results suggest that circulating androgen bioactivity mediates the tempo of pubertal maturation and that the combination of testosterone and letrozole given to boys with constitutional delay of puberty accelerates puberty.
Clinical endocrinology, 2014
Progress through puberty involves a complex hormonal cascade, but the individual contributions of hormones, particularly IGF-1, are unknown. We reanalysed Chard growth study data to explore the tempo of puberty based on changes in both height and hormone levels, using a novel method of growth curve analysis. Schoolboys (n = 54) and girls (n = 70) from Chard, Somerset, England, recruited in 1981 at age 8/9 and followed to age 16. Every 6 months, height and Tanner stages (genitalia, breast, pubic hair) were recorded, and in a subsample (24 boys, 27 girls), blood samples were taken. Serum IGF-1, testosterone (boys) and oestradiol (girls) were measured by radioimmunoassay. Individual growth curves for each outcome were analysed using variants of the super-imposition by translation and rotation (SITAR) method, which estimates a mean curve and subject-specific random effects corresponding to size, and age and magnitude of peak velocity. The SITAR models fitted the data well, explaining 99...
Analysis of puberty and pubertal growth in healthy boys
European Journal of Pediatrics, 2007
The aim of this study was to provide normative data for the onset and tempo of puberty in healthy boys. The analyses are based on data that were collected and evaluated biannually on 1112 Turkish school children aged from 8 to 18 years and a subsample of 30 boys who had reached final height (FH). The data were analyzed crosssectionally in the total group and longitudinally in the subsample. Mean age and height (Ht) at onset of puberty were 11.6±1.2 years and 146.1±7.7 cm, respectively. Peak height velocity (HtV) was 10.1±1.6 cm. Total pubertal height gain was 26.4±4.3 cm. The duration of puberty was 4.9±0.6 years. Height at onset of puberty was positively correlated with FH (p < 0.0001) and with duration of puberty (p=0.03). Body mass index at onset of puberty correlated negatively with age at onset of puberty (p<0.009) and with the duration of puberty (p=0.05) but not with FH. In conclusion, these results provide normative data for Ht and HtV for each testicular volume stage for boys in puberty. Height at onset of puberty is the most important determinant of FH. There is no secular trend for the onset of puberty. Weight does seem to affect the onset and tempo of puberty but not FH.