Dynamic Changes of Serum Lipoproteins in Children During Adolescence and Sexual Maturation

Abstract

A cross-sectional study of 4074 children, ages 5--17 years, in Bogalusa, Louisiana indicated significant changes of serum lipids and lipoproteins occurring during puberty. These changes could be related to both age and maturation and likely reflect the influence of sex hormones on serum lipoprotein metabolism. Considerable differences were observed in the race/sex groups, with boys showing a more marked decrease of serum total cholesterol, reflecting decreases of beta- and alpha- lipoproteins. While the ratio of mean beta-lipoprotein cholesterol/mean alpha-lipoprotein cholesterol for the white girls and black children remained relatively constant over the age span, the ratio beginning around age 11 years rose dramatically in white boys, reflecting an inordinate decrease of alpha-lipoprotein and an earlier beginning rise of beta-lipoprotein. The observations have important implications for earlier coronary artery disease in white men.

Lipoprotein and oxygen transport alterations in passive smoking preadolescent children. The MCV Twin Study.

“…2' During puberty and early adolescence, levels of HDL and LDL cholesterol decrease in all children, but the decrease in HDL cholesterol is more pronounced in boys than in girls. 28 Since the girls in our study population were more sexually developed than the boys, we cannot exclude the possibility that the passive smoking girls were more advanced in pubertal development than their non-passive smoking counterparts, which could explain the observed differences in LDL cholesterol. HDL cholesterol levels fall during puberty in boys in association with increases in testosterone levels.29 Passive cigarette smoking, by further diminishing the level of HDL,2 cholesterol in pubertal males, may be associated with accelerated atherosclerotic changes and an increased risk of coronary heart disease.…”

Genetic and environmental contributions to cholesterol and its subfractions in 11-year-old twins. The Medical College of Virginia Twin Study.

“…The beginning of the rise toward adult levels appeared to occur in girls at about age 14 and in boys at about age 16. 17 Hewitt et al 18 found stronger correlations between parents and offspring for cholesterol at younger rather than at older ages (>15 years), but the sib correlations did not change appreciably in the childhood years. Longitudinal follow-up will enable us to see whether there is evidence, at different ages, for different genes' influencing cholesterol in boys and girls as they progress through adolescence.…”

A supply–demand model of fetal energy sufficiency predicts lipid profiles in male but not female Filipino adolescents

“…Fetal testosterone production, in turn, is sensitive to maternal nutrition (Rae et al, 2002) and stress (Ward & Weisz, 1980;Williams et al, 1999). Given the importance of the pubertal rise in androgen production to the establishment of the male-typical adult lipid profile (Berenson et al, 1981), any long-term effects of the intrauterine milieu on sex steroids or steroid-sensitive target tissues, such as liver enzymes (Gustafsson & Stenberg, 1974), could influence adult lipid profiles in males. Such dual 'organizational' and 'activational' effects of androgens are well established for numerous tissues and organs (Rhind et al, 2001).…”