Pronounced adrenarche and precocious pubarche in boys.
In girls, pronounced adrenarche with precocious pubarche (PP) has been related to reduced fetal growth and to a cluster of endocrine-metabolic abnormalities. We examined whether these associations are also evident in boys with PP. The study population consisted of matched groups of boys (n = 58; age range 5-15 years) without or with a history of PP. After stratification for pubertal development, non-PP and PP boys displayed comparable results for the studied variables, including serum insulin-like growth factor I, sex hormone binding globulin, insulin-like growth factor binding proteins 1 and 3, indices of circulating glucose and insulin responsiveness to an oral glucose load, and birth weight SD score. In conclusion, the present results indicate that adrenarche-driven PP in boys is, in contrast to PP in girls, not associated with a cluster of endocrine-metabolic abnormalities and is not related to reduced fetal growth. These observations support the view that adrenarche-driven PP in boys may be regarded as a variant of normal development. Copyrightz1999S.KargerAG,Basel
Potau
N
N
Hospital Materno-Infantil Vall d'Hebron, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Ibáñez
L
L
Riqué
S
S
Sanchez-Ufarte
C
C
de Zegher
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D001724:Birth Weight; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D018970:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 1 / Q000097:blood; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 / Q000097:blood; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D011629:Puberty, Precocious / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin / Q000378:metabolism
D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D018970:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 1; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I