Evidence for temporal coupling of growth hormone, prolactin, LH and FSH pulsatility overnight during normal puberty

Abstract

The patterns of secretion of GH, LH, FSH and prolactin were determined over a single night (20.00-08.00 h; 15-min sampling) in 34 normal subjects (17 male, 17 female, aged 9.1-20.9 years). Plasma GH was measured by an immunoradiometric assay and LH, FSH and prolactin by radioimmunoassay in all samples. Data were analysed by Fourier transformation and cross-correlation after stationarization. The highest mean GH levels were noted in girls at Tanner stage 2/3 and in boys at stages 4/5. Prolactin levels were highest in girls at stage 4/5 and in boys at stage 2/3. LH and FSH showed a progressive rise by puberty stage in both sexes. The dominant pulse periodicities of GH and prolactin were 150-180 min in girls and 180 min in boys. LH and FSH pulse periodicity was around 90 min in early puberty and 180 min in later puberty in both sexes. LH and prolactin pulses showed a phase relationship with GH with a lag of 30-75 min (r = 0.32; P less than 0.001) and 30 min (r = 0.47; P less than 0.0001) respectively. Generally, LH and prolactin pulses were in phase (r = 0.42; P less than 0.0001) and there was a highly significant correlation (r = 0.64; P less than 0.0001) between FSH and LH pulsatility. Whereas mean overnight concentrations and pulse periodicity of the principal pituitary hormones varied between the sexes during early puberty, by the end of puberty a dominant pulse periodicity of around 150-180 min was established and there was remarkable temporal coupling of pulsatility.

Cerebral white matter in early puberty is associated with luteinizing hormone concentrations

“…Around the onset of puberty, there might be involvement of prolactin production in the observed increased white matter density. However, in early puberty it has been demonstrated that there is a substantial sex difference in the production of prolactin (Dunger et al, 1991). In the current study, we found similar associations between LH level and white matter density in both sexes.…”

“…We could therefore argue that LH, and not FSH, is underlying the associations with white matter structure. Another pituitary hormone interrelated with LHrelease (Dunger et al, 1991;Rosenfield, 1994) is prolactin. Interestingly, in the murine central nervous system, prolactin treatment was capable of increasing myelination of axons, by oligodendrocyte regeneration (Gregg et al, 2007).…”

Classification of Distinct Baseline Insulin Infusion Patterns in Children and Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes on Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion Therapy

“…Children and adolescents undergo comprehensive changes with increasing age from birth to adolescence including circadian rhythms (25), sleep patterns (17,18), growth, and pubertal development sequentially interfering with or altering the endocrine background (15,16,19). These changes are likely to interact in an age-dependent manner with the pattern of insulin sensitivity, thus giving rise to age-dependent differences in the basal insulin needs and consequently in the programmed basal insulin infusion rates, as observed in our study.…”

“…This is of documented (2,10,14) effectiveness in overnight glycemic control in the presence of a "dawn phenomenon" in older children and adults. Children and adolescents undergo dramatic sex-, age-, and puberty-related changes in their endocrine system from birth to adolescence (15,16), involving hormones antagonizing insulin, e.g., IGF-1 (16). Also, sleep patterns and sleep duration change with age during childhood (17,18).…”

Growth hormone-releasing peptide-2 infusion synchronizes growth hormone, thyrotrophin and prolactin release in prolonged critical illness

“…The current study revealed an additional characteristic of the nocturnal secretory pattern of anterior pituitary hormones during prolonged critical illness: normal synchrony among GH, TSH and PRL release was absent (3,4). Exogenous GHRP-2 synchronized in part GH, TSH and PRL secretion, as evidenced by significant cross-correlation among their serum concentration profiles.…”