Foot Length Growth as a Novel Marker of Early Puberty.

Foot growth is part of overall pubertal growth but its relation to other anthropometric and hormonal changes is unclear. Our objective was to determine how foot length changes relate to changes in other growth parameters (height and weight), Tanner stage, and serum hormones. Adolescents (n = 342) were recruited to a 3-year longitudinal cohort study, underwent annual anthropometric assessments (height, weight, and foot length), and provided self-rated Tanner staging. They also provided blood samples that were analyzed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for serum testosterone and estradiol and classified as pre-pubertal or pubertal based on circulating hormone levels. Average annual percent increase in foot length was greater for pre-pubertal adolescents compared with pubertal. Increased foot length was associated with increases in height, weight, Tanner stage, and serum hormones in males and pre-menarcheal females but not post-menarcheal females. Foot length offers a novel, noninvasive, cost-effective, and easily demonstrable marker of early pubertal changes.

Self-rated Tanner stage and subjective measures of puberty are associated with longitudinal gonadal hormone changes.

Introduction In large community-based studies of puberty, Tanner staging by a clinician is often not possible. We compared self-rated Tanner staging and other subjective ratings of pubertal development with serum hormone levels measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to reassess the utility of self-rated pubertal stage using highly sensitive and specific hormone analysis. Methods Adolescents and their parents enrolled in the Adolescent Rural Cohort study of Hormones and health, Education, environments and Relationships (ARCHER) answered annual survey questions on pubertal development. Annually, adolescents provided blood samples for serum testosterone and estradiol measured by LC-MS/MS. Results Longitudinally, self-rated Tanner stage was positively associated with serum testosterone and estradiol levels in both sexes. Confirmation by adolescent and parent that puberty had commenced was associated with higher gonadal hormone levels in both sexes. Parent and adolescent responses demonstrated 'fair' to 'moderate' agreement. Conclusions Over a 3-year follow-up, self-rated Tanner staging and simple questions regarding pubertal onset and development are positively associated with adolescent gonadal hormone concentrations in serum measured by mass spectrometry. Thus, self-report of puberty stage still has a role in large community-based studies where physical examination is not feasible.

Urinary Sex Steroids and Anthropometric Markers of Puberty - A Novel Approach to Characterising Within-Person Changes of Puberty Hormones.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The longitudinal relationships of within-individual hormone and anthropometric changes during puberty have not ever been fully described. The objectives of this study were to demonstrate that 3 monthly urine collection was feasible in young adolescents and to utilise liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay methods for serum and urine testosterone (T), estradiol (E2) and luteinizing hormone (LH) in adolescents by relating temporal changes in urine and serum hormones over 12 months to standard measures of pubertal development. METHODS: A community sample of 104 adolescents (57 female) was studied over 12 months with annual anthropometric assessment, blood sampling and self-rated Tanner staging and urine collected every 3 months. Serum and urine sex steroids (T, E2) were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and LH by immunoassay. RESULTS: A high proportion (92%) of scheduled samples were obtained with low attrition rate of 6.7% over the 12 months. Urine hormone measurements correlated cross-sectionally and longitudinally with age, anthropometry and Tanner stage. CONCLUSION: We have developed a feasible and valid sampling methodology and measurements for puberty hormones in urine, which allows a sampling frequency by which individual pubertal progression in adolescents can be described in depth.

The effects of estradiol on mood and behavior in human female adolescents: a systematic review.

UNLABELLED: Mood disorders and health risk behaviors increase in adolescence. Puberty is considered to contribute to these events. However, the precise impact of pubertal hormone changes to the emergence of mood disorders and risk behaviors is relatively unclear. It is important that inappropriate attribution is not made. Our aim was to determine what is known about the effect of endogenous estradiol on human adolescent girls' mood and behavior. The databases searched were MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Pre-MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus for all dates to October 2014. For inclusion, contemporaneous hormone and mood or behavioral assessment was required. Data were extracted following a template created by the authors. Fourteen studies met our inclusion criteria. There was some consistency in findings for mood and estradiol levels, with associations between estradiol and depression and emotional tone and risk taking. Results were less consistent for studies assessing other mood and behavioral outcomes. Most studies were cross-sectional in design; assay methodologies used in older studies may lack the precision to detect early pubertal hormone levels. CONCLUSION: Three longitudinal and several cross-sectional studies indicate potential associations between estradiol and certain mood or affective states, especially depression and mood variability though there are insufficient data to confirm that the rise in estradiol during puberty is causative. We believe that it is important for health professionals to take care when attributing adolescent psychopathology to puberty hormones, as the current data supporting these assertions are limited.