[Change of dehydroepiandrosterone in serum of 6 - 18 year-old twin girls in Qingdao City].
OBJECTIVE
To explore the change of serum dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEAS) concentrations throughout the puberty of girls and estimate the effects of genetic and environmental factors on serum DHEAS.


METHODS
The study population consists of 360 girls aged 6 to 18 years:132 pairs monozygotic twins and 48 pairs dizygotic twins, who were all from Qingdao city, Shan-dong province. Anthropometric measurement and pubertal development stage were determined by Tanner standard, fasting serum DHEAS contents were assayed by RIA.


RESULTS
Serum DHEAS concentrations increased from Tanner I to IV and decreased later, heritability of pubertal girl's serum DHEAS was 0.65. The heritability of 3 different pubertal stages (pre-thelarche, post-thelarche and pre-menarche, and post-menarche) were 0.92, 0.73 and 0.67 respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Serum DHEAS concentrations of pubertal girls could be mainly influenced by the genetic factors, especially in the period of adrenarche. Therefore, genetic influence might be important in adrenarche-related metabolic disorders.
Li
Hongjuan
H
Institute of Child and Adolescent Health, Beijing University, Beijing 100083, China. jane-lhj@sohu.com
Ji
Chengye
C
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D014427:Twins / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics
D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone