title: Pubertal development in children and adolescents born after IVF and spontaneous conception.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies demonstrated a link between adverse conditions during prenatal life and the development of diseases in adult life. It is still unclear whether IVF conception could permanently affect early prenatal development in humans, with post-natal health consequences. The objective of the present study is to examine pubertal development in 8-18-year-old IVF singletons and controls born from subfertile parents who attended one Dutch fertility clinic were included.
  
  
  METHODS
  IVF singletons and controls born from subfertile parents who attended one clinic in the Dutch OMEGA study were included. Pubertal stage by Tanner's classification, age at menarche and menstrual cycle characteristics were studied in the total population (n = 233: 115 IVF-conceived boys and 118 IVF-conceived girls, each with age-matched comparison groups). Bone age and sex hormone levels were examined in two distinct pubertal subpopulations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pubertal stage and age at menarche were not significantly different between IVF and control children. In the pubertal subpopulation, a higher bone age-chronological age (BA-CA) ratio and a larger BA-CA difference were observed in IVF-conceived girls compared with controls (1.04 +/- 0.07 versus 1.02 +/- 0.08, P = 0.022; 0.54 +/- 0.82 versus 0.18 +/- 1.00 year, P = 0.021, respectively). Furthermore, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) and LH levels were significantly higher in IVF-conceived girls than in control subjects (2.5 versus 1.9 micromol/l, P = 0.017, and 1.5 versus 0.6 U/l, P = 0.031, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bone age appeared to be advanced in pubertal IVF-conceived girls, but not in boys, compared with controls. Increased DHEAS and LH concentrations were found among IVF girls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Neuroscience. VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Manon
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ceelen
authors.forename: Mirjam M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: van Weissenbruch
authors.forename: Jan P W
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vermeiden
authors.forename: Flora E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: van Leeuwen
authors.forename: Henriette A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Delemarre-van de Waal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001846:Bone Development / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008572:Menarche / Q000502:physiology; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone