title: [Study on the level of environmental endocrine disruptors in serum of precocious puberty patients].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the role of environmental endocrine disruptors (EEDs) in causing the precocious puberty.
  
  
  METHODS
  The blood samples were collected from 79 cases of precocious puberty patients and 42 cases of normal children. The concentrations of 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), 1, 1-dichloro-2, 2, bis (p-chlorophenyl) ethylene (p, p'-DDE) and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) in blood serum samples were measured by using reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The volume of uterus and ovary, the bone density, and the content of estradiol (E(2)) in serum were determined at the same time. The contents of EEDs in blood serums of precocious puberty and the indices of the target organs were analyzed by using of correlation and regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In normal control group, p, p'-DDE was detected in all the blood samples (14.93 - 40.39 ng/ml), but 4-NP and DEHP were detected in some samples (ND -6.77 ng/ml, ND -17.61 ng/ml). The levels of 4-NP, p, p'-DDE and DEHP in blood serum in precocious puberty group were notably increased than that in control group (P < 0.01). In precocious puberty group, there was a positive correlations between the 4-NP in volume of uterus and the volume of ovary and the density of bone (r = 0.394, 0.286, 0.237, P < 0.01); p, p'-DDE and volume of uterus also showed a the positive correlation (r = 0.306, P < 0.01). The influencing extent of 4-NP was 1.3 times to that of the p, p'-DDE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The normal children and the children with precocious puberty should be all contaminated by EEDs, and the later be exposured to more EEDs. There might exist a close relationship between EEDs and the precocious puberty, and EEDs should be an important factor in causing the disease. Different kinds of EEDs might have different influencing extents to the target organs.
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Jun-ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Li-xing
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: De-pei
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003633:Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene / Q000097:blood*; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000097:blood; D011629:Puberty, Precocious / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D003633:Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls