Pubertal growth of 1,453 healthy children according to age at pubertal growth spurt onset. The Barcelona longitudinal growth study

Whether prepubertal estrogen production impacts on the timing of puberty is not clear. We aimed to investigate prepubertal 24-h estrogen excretion levels and their association with early and late pubertal markers. Daily urinary excretion rates of estrogens of 132 healthy children, who provided 24-h urine samples 1 and 2 yr before the start of the pubertal growth spurt [age at takeoff (ATO)], were quantified by stable isotope dilution/GC-MS. E-sum3 (estrone + estradiol + estriol) was used as a marker for potentially bioactive estrogen metabolites and E-sum5 (E-sum3 + 16-epiestriol + 16-ketoestradiol) for total estrogen production. Pubertal outcomes were ATO, age at peak height velocity (APHV), duration of pubertal growth acceleration (APHV-ATO), age at Tanner stage 2 for pubic hair (PH2), genital (G2, boys) and breast (B2, girls) development, and age at menarche. Prepubertal urinary estrogen excretions (E-sum3 and E-sum5) were not associated with ATO, APHV, and age at PH2 but with duration of pubertal growth acceleration ( P < 0.01) in both sexes. Girls with higher E-sum3 reached B2 0.9 yr ( P = 0.04) and menarche 0.3 yr earlier ( P = 0.04) than girls with lower E-sum3. E-sum3 was not associated with age at G2 in boys ( P = 0.6). For most pubertal variables, the associations with E-sum3 were stronger than with E-sum5. In conclusion, prepubertal estrogens may not be critical for the onset of the pubertal growth spurt but are correlated with its duration in both boys and girls. Prepubertal estrogen levels may already predict the timing of girls' menstruation and breast development but do not appear to affect sexual maturation in boys.

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Slow Prepubertal Linear Growth but Early Pubertal Growth Spurt in Patients With Shunted Hydrocephalus

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.95.6.917 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 95 (6) ◽

pp. 917-923

Author(s):

Tuija Löppönen ◽

Anna-Liisa Saukkonen ◽

Willy Serlo ◽

Peter Lanning ◽

Mikael Knip

Keyword(s):

Linear Growth ◽

Final Height ◽

Relative Weight ◽

Bone Age ◽

Growth Spurt ◽

Healthy Children ◽

Growth Data ◽

Pubertal Growth Spurt ◽

Anthropometric Measures ◽

Pubertal Growth

Objective. To evaluate growth and to compare anthropometric measures and the degree of physical maturation in children with shunted hydrocephalus with those in healthy children. Methods. One hundred fourteen patients (62 male) and 73 healthy subjects (38 male) 5 to 20 years of age were analyzed for growth data and current auxology, stage of puberty, and bone age. Results. Boys with hydrocephalus were shorter than control boys during their first 8 years of age, and no catch-up growth was observed until puberty. Girls with hydrocephalus were of the same size at birth as the control girls, but their linear growth retarded during the first years of life, leading to reduced relative height between the age of 5 to 8 years. The pubertal growth spurt occurred earlier in boys with hydrocephalus (age at midgrowth spurt, 12.1 vs 13.3 years), and a similar trend was seen in girls (10.0 vs 10.7 years). The final height was again reduced, especially in boys. Patients with hydrocephalus were more obese than control subjects, girls more often than boys. Relative bone age was retarded in prepubertal (-0.42 vs 0.32 SD) and accelerated in pubertal patients (0.54 vs -0.19 SD). Conclusions. Children with hydrocephalus experience slow linear growth in prepuberty, but they have an earlier adolescent growth spurt. Together these factors result in a reduced final height. An increase in relative weight emerges in the preadolescent period, and this phenomenon is accentuated after puberty, leading to an increased prevalence of obesity.

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Serum DHEA-S levels could be used as a comparable diagnostic test to assess the pubertal growth spurt in dentofacial orthopedics

Progress in Orthodontics ◽

10.1186/s40510-020-00317-5 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

V. Anusuya ◽

Amit Nagar ◽

Pradeep Tandon ◽

G. K. Singh ◽

Gyan Prakash Singh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Diagnostic Test ◽

Growth Spurt ◽

Pubertal Growth Spurt ◽

Pubertal Growth ◽

Dentofacial Orthopedics

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Are there gender differences in sagittal spinal pelvic inclination before and after the adolescent pubertal growth spurt?

European Spine Journal ◽

10.1007/s00586-014-3563-9 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 24 (6) ◽

pp. 1168-1174 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Weijun Wang ◽

Zhiwei Wang ◽

Zhen Liu ◽

Zezhang Zhu ◽

Feng Zhu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Growth Spurt ◽

Pubertal Growth Spurt ◽

Pubertal Growth ◽

Pelvic Inclination ◽

Before And After

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Tracking of appendicular bone mineral density for 6 years including the pubertal growth spurt: Japanese Population-based Osteoporosis Kids Cohort Study

Journal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism ◽

10.1007/s00774-010-0213-0 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 208-216 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Yuki Fujita ◽

Masayuki Iki ◽

Yukihiro Ikeda ◽

Akemi Morita ◽

Tomoharu Matsukura ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bone Mineral Density ◽

Cohort Study ◽

Bone Mineral ◽

Japanese Population ◽

Population Based ◽

Growth Spurt ◽

Pubertal Growth Spurt ◽

Mineral Density ◽

Pubertal Growth

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Questions on the Use of Vitamin D3

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.66.3.483 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 66 (3) ◽

pp. 483-484

Author(s):

Sonia Balsan ◽

Robert Steendijk

Keyword(s):

Growth Velocity ◽

Point Of View ◽

Hypophosphatemic Rickets ◽

Growth Spurt ◽

Vitamin D2 ◽

Pubertal Growth Spurt ◽

Dihydroxyvitamin D3 ◽

Pubertal Growth ◽

Careful Scrutiny ◽

Late Maturer

From their observations in a boy with hypophosphatemic rickets Chan and Bartter1 conclude that administration of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-(OH)2D3) is the treatment of choice for this disease. Since this point of view is not shared by everybody, it demands careful scrutiny. The conclusion rests on the increased growth velocity, the radiologic healing of the rachitic lesions, and the increase in serum phosphorus which occurred when treatment was changed from vitamin D2 to 1,25-(OH)2D3. From the growth curve of this boy it appears that the increase in growth velocity could represent the pubertal growth spurt in a late maturer.

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Variability of the dynamics of somatometric parameters in schoolchildren with different nutritional status (longitudinal study)

Voprosy praktičeskoj pediatrii ◽

10.20953/1817-7646-2020-5-68-72 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (5) ◽

pp. 68-72

Author(s):

V.L. Gritsinskaya ◽

◽

V.P. Novikova ◽

A.I. Khavkin ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nutritional Status ◽

High Amplitude ◽

Physical Development ◽

Growth Spurt ◽

Pubertal Growth Spurt ◽

Pubertal Growth ◽

Normal Limits ◽

Study Participants ◽

Two Peaks ◽

Low Amplitude

Objective. To identify specific features of pubertal growth spurt in adolescents depending on their nutritional status in prepuberty. Patients and methods. We analyzed the dynamics of height and weight in 645 children (331 boys and 314 girls) aged between 8 and 16 years. All study participants were divided into three groups depending on whether their weight and height at the age of 8 years were within the normal limits given in the ‘WHO Growth Reference 2007’: children with physical development; underweight children; and overweight children. Results. The dynamics of somatometric parameters during pubertal growth spurt varied between children with different nutritional status. Underweight boys demonstrated prolonged and low-amplitude pubertal growth pattern; in boys with normal physical development, the growth spurt was usually shorter and had high amplitude. In overweight boys, the pubertal growth spurt started with higher annual increase in height, had a more pronounced amplitude, and was shorter than in peers (р < 0.001 ÷ р < 0.05). Both underweight girls and girls with normal physical development demonstrated low-amplitude pubertal growth spurt lasting for two years. Overweight girls had two peaks of pubertal growth spurt, which usually started earlier than in other girls (р < 0.001 ÷ р < 0.01). Conclusion. Our findings can be used as a guide for predicting pubertal spurt in children during medical examinations, determining adequate physical activity in physical education classes at school and in sports sections. Key words: children, nutritional status, pubertal growth spurt

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Precocious Puberty: Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Management

Pediatrics in Review ◽

10.1542/pir.14.9.336 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 14 (9) ◽

pp. 336-367

Keyword(s):

The United States ◽

Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone ◽

Growth Spurt ◽

Transitional Stage ◽

Pubertal Growth Spurt ◽

Adrenal Androgen ◽

Secondary Sexual Characteristics ◽

Pubertal Growth ◽

Sexual Characteristics ◽

Physical Changes

Puberty is a transitional stage associated with many changes, both physical and emotional. The endocrinologic changes, consisting of two processes, gonadarche and adrenarche, result in the development of secondary sexual characteristics and the pubertal growth spurt. Gonadarche, the maturation of the gonads, is initiated by the episodic pulsatile secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus. Adrenarche refers to the increase in adrenal androgen secretion (the mechanism responsible for this is unknown). Both of these processes cause an increase in sex steroid secretion, which results in the physical changes of puberty. In the United States, normal puberty occurs between 8 to 13 years in girls and 9 to 14 years in boys.

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Ontogeny of GH mRNA and GH secretion in male and female rats: regulation by GH-releasing hormone

AJP Endocrinology and Metabolism ◽

10.1152/ajpendo.1993.265.2.e236 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 265 (2) ◽

pp. E236-E242 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Z. Hu ◽

R. D. Friberg ◽

A. L. Barkan

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

Monosodium Glutamate ◽

Somatic Growth ◽

Female Rats ◽

Growth Spurt ◽

Pubertal Growth Spurt ◽

Releasing Hormone ◽

Pubertal Growth ◽

Igf I ◽

Mrna Content

Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) has been shown in vitro to increase proliferation of pituitary somatotrophs, to increase transcription of the GH gene, to promote accumulation of GH mRNA, and to stimulate GH release. The in vivo involvement of hypothalamic GHRH in regulating GH mRNA content had never been clearly documented. We studied pituitary GH mRNA and GH contents and serum concentrations of GH and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in rats of both sexes during pubertal growth spurt and investigated the effects of GHRH deficiency (brought about by neonatal administration of monosodium glutamate, MSG) and exogenous GHRH administration on these parameters. In both sexes, GH mRNA content increased three- to fourfold between 4 and 12 wk of life and declined thereafter toward 33 wk of life. This was accompanied by virtually parallel changes in pituitary GH content and in serum IGF-I. Neonatal MSG abolished the pubertal increases in GH mRNA, pituitary GH, and serum IGF-I and severely impaired growth rate. Exogenous GHRH (25 micrograms/kg sc every 8 h for 7 days) given to intact animals between 6 and 7 wk of life significantly augmented pituitary GH mRNA content but was less effective in MSG-treated rats. We conclude that 1) pubertal growth spurt in both sexes is associated with rising pituitary GH mRNA content; 2) GHRH deficiency abolishes the puberty-associated increase in GH synthesis and secretion and attenuates somatic growth rate; and 3) exogenous GHRH augments GH mRNA content. Thus puberty-associated augmentation of GHRH secretion is an important mechanism of somatic growth.

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