[Effect of bodyweight on the onset of puberty of female children and adolescents].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possible effects and roles of bodyweight on the puberty onset in adolescent girls. METHODS: Totally 288 Chinese female children and adolescent girls aged 5 to 16 were followed up yearly for four consecutive years. The height, bodyweight, fat percentage, sexual characteristics, and the serum levels of leptin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) were studied to analyze the influential factors of puberty onset and age of menarche. RESULTS: The serum level of leptin elevated significantly from age 13 [(9.23 +/- 1.25) microg/L] and reached peak at age 16 [(13.19 +/- 1.45) microg/L]. IGF-1 significantly correlated with the timing of puberty onset (r = 0.292, P = 0.016). BMI and fat percentage had no significant effects on the onset of puberty, but were negatively correlated with the age of menarche (r = -0.323, P = 0.037, r = -0.298, P = 0.038 respectively). CONCLUSION: Bodyweight may have effect on puberty onset in female adolescents.

[The survey of puberty timing in healthy boys in Daqing city in northern China].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the puberty timing in healthy adolescent boys in Daqing city in northern China. METHODS: A cross-sectional and longitudinal combined survey was performed. On 150 male students aged 6-15. Follow up was conducted for 4 years. The serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), Follicular Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and total testosterone (TT) were measured. The puberty timing and anthropometry including the body height, weight, and genital development according to Tanner's stages were all recorded. RESULTS: The mean age of puberty onset in healthy adolescent boys is (12.0+/-1.6) years. The growth velocity in the first year after puberty onset is (6.9+/-0.4) cm/year. The level of plasma TT at the time of puberty onset is (1.0+/-0.3) nmol/L. CONCLUSION: The puberty timing of boys in the Daqing city, northern China is in the range from 8 to 14 years.

[A clinical analysis of 103 male patients with macroprolactinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical characteristics, therapeutic methods and prognostic factors of macroprolactinoma in male patients. METHODS: The clinical data of 103 male patients with macroprolactinoma were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: (1) The main symptoms were decreased libido or impotence, headache and hypoplasia. (2) About 57.8% of the patients treated with dopaminergic agonist achieved complete remission, while only 5.7% of the patients achieved complete remission after surgery (chi(2) = 54.148, P < 0.001). Fifty-nine patients who did not completely respond to surgery received other therapeutic methods, including dopaminergic agonist, radiotherapy or combination of them, but no differences were found among these three methods (chi(2) = 3.373, P = 0.498). (3) Patients with invasive tumors had worse prognosis than those with non-invasive tumors; there were no effects of age, duration of the disease, size of tumor, serum prolactin levels or presence of pituitary apoplexy on the prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Dopaminergic agonist is the treatment of first-choice for male macroprolactinoma. Invasive tumor indicates a poor outcome.

[Puberty development of the healthy adolescent girls of Daqing city, Heilongjiang province].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the process of puberty development of healthy adolescent girls in Northern China. METHODS: 288 adolescent girls of Daqing city, Heilongjiang province, aged 5 to 16, were studied and followed up yearly for four years. The height, weight, fat percentage, second sex characteristics, and the blood levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and estradiol (E(2)) were examined. RESULTS: The mean age of puberty onset of these healthy adolescent girls was 8.5 years +/- 1.1 years. The blood levels of FSH, LH and E(2) were 0.2 mIU/L, 1.1 mIU/L and 0.06 nmol/L respectively (the 95 percentiles were 2.5 mIU/L, 2.3 mIU/L and 0.12 nmol/L respectively). Their mean age of menarche was 12.4 years +/- 1.2 years. The mean age of breast development was 8.8 years +/- 1.1 years. CONCLUSION: The girls in Northern China begin their puberty development at younger ages than reported before.