ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To compare body fat mass at the same stage of pubertal maturation, genital stage 2 (G2), in a Spanish and in a Mexican sample of boys. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Data from Spain (n=177) were from a previous longitudinal clinical follow-up and data from Mexico (n=91) from a cross-sectional study. Subjects were grouped according to the presence of G2 at similar ages. Spanish sample was divided into boys with G2 at age 12 (n=60), 13 (n=74) and 14 (n=43). In Mexican sample, 23 boys were at G2 at 12 years, 38 at age 13 and 30 at 14 years. Height, weight, upper arm circumference and four skinfold thicknesses were recorded. Genital development was assessed (Tanner scale). Sum of four skinfolds (SUM), body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat (%BF) and extremity/trunk skinfold ratio (ETR=(triceps+biceps)/(subscapular+suprailiac)) was calculated. RESULTS: When comparing subjects with different ages at G2 from the same country, or with the same age at G2 from different countries, no significant differences were found in adiposity variables (%BF, SUM), nor in BMI. Nevertheless, there were differences in body fat distribution: ETR was higher in Spanish boys (P<0.001), because of their greater triceps skinfold thickness (P=0.013), and due to the greater trunk fat stores in Mexican boys (P<0.01, subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds). CONCLUSIONS: There is a subcutaneous fat mass store characteristic of G2 in boys, which is not only independent of age, but is also observable in two different populations.
Subject(s)
Adipose Tissue , Body Fat Distribution , Puberty , Adolescent , Anthropometry , Body Size , Child , Humans , Male , Mexico , Skinfold Thickness , SpainABSTRACT
AIMS: To analyse the effect of early puberty (onset between 7.5 and 8.5 y) on pubertal growth and adult height in girls, and the implications of this effect for the age limit for normal onset of puberty. METHODS: Longitudinal study in Reus (Spain) of 32 girls with early puberty until they reached adult height. Data from these girls were compared with longitudinal data from girls (116) from the same population with normal onset at 10 (n = 37), 11 (n = 47), 12 (n = 19) and 13 (n = 13)y. We analysed height, target height, adult height, pubertal height increase, duration of pubertal growth, age at menarche and time to menarche. RESULTS: The adult height of girls with early puberty (160.9 +/- 5.4cm) was similar to that of girls with onset at later ages (p = not significant). In these girls, puberty lasted 5.4 +/- 0.7 y and the mean growth during puberty was 31.1 +/- 3.5 cm. As the age of onset of puberty increases, the duration of puberty and mean growth during puberty progressively decreased (p < 0.001). Girls with early puberty reached menarche at a mean age of 10.9 +/- 1.0 y, 3.2 +/- 0.9 y after onset of puberty, and this time span was greater than in the other groups. CONCLUSION: Girls with onset of puberty at 8 y show all the compensatory phenomena related to height at onset, pubertal duration and height increase during puberty. These phenomena cause their adult height to be similar to that of girls who begin puberty at the age of 10 to 13 y.
Subject(s)
Body Height/physiology , Puberty/physiology , Adult , Age Factors , Child , Female , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , SpainABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: We analysed the effectiveness of therapy with LHRH analogues in girls with a puberty onset at age 8 years. PATIENTS AND METHOD: We performed a non-randomised clinical study of 32 girls with advanced puberty. These included 16 treated with triptorelin LHRH analogue(3.75 mg/month during 1 year) and 16 control subjects. We carried out anthropometric measurements and determined the pubertal height growth (gain in height from the puberty onset up to the final height) and the pubertal duration (time in years from the puberty onset up to the age at which final height is attained). RESULTS: Treatment with LHRH analogue delayed the menarche age (11.5 [1.46]vs 10.37 [0.67] years of age; p = 0.03), led to an involution in secondary sexual characteristics and a temporary decrease ingrowth rate, and delayed skeletal maturation. However, pubertal duration, pubertal height growth and final height were all similar in both groups. In addition, no significant differences in body fat mass were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with LHRH analogues in advanced puberty modifies pubertal development, without modifying pubertal duration or pubertal height growth. Furthermore, this treatment does not improve final height.
Subject(s)
Body Height/drug effects , Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone/therapeutic use , Puberty, Precocious/drug therapy , Triptorelin Pamoate/therapeutic use , Adolescent , Child , Female , Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone/analogs & derivatives , Humans , Longitudinal StudiesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Delayed puberty is a very common clinical situation that affects a great number of adolescents. We analyzed the effects that testosterone therapy produces in this situation, including the start of puberty and, therefore, lessening the psychological effects that this delay causes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We carried out a longitudinal study, in which we followed the growth and maturation of 32 boys from the age of 14 to 19 years. The sample was divided into a control group (n = 17) and a treatment group (n = 15). The treatment group received 50 mg/month of testosterone enantate depot during 6 months. None of the subjects, neither in the control group nor in the treatment group, had started puberty or if so, they had started it in an insufficient way for their age. RESULTS: The boys treated with testosterone developed a greater growth velocity compared to the control group during the first year of observation (9.07 +/- 1.11 cm/year vs 6.9 +/- 1.76, respectively, p < 0.0001). They had a higher increment in the muscular area of the arm (p < 0.005) and pubertal stage G changes occurred more quickly. On the other hand, the growth of the testicular volume was similar in both groups. At 19 years of age, no significant difference between the groups was observed in any of the clinical parameters studied. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment wit testosterone at the dose used promotes a significant response that leads to the start of puberty, but without stopping the maturation of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis that is produced in normal puberty, allowing a normal testicular evolution. The treatment does not show any long-term effects. It is, therefore, an effective treatment of delayed puberty.
