Reference levels for 17-hydroxyprogesterone, 11-desoxycortisol, cortisol, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and androstenedione in infants from birth to six months of age

Abstract

Reference plasma adrenal steroid levels during early infancy are frequently used to verify hormone measurements when any adrenal abnormality is suspected. We aim to obtain longitudinal reference plasma levels for 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP), 11-desoxycortisol (11DOC), cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), testosterone, and androstenedione in healthy infants from birth to 6 months of age. In 138 term infants, 80 males and 58 females, plasma steroid levels were measured using specific RIA procedures at birth and on the 3rd, 15th, 30th, 60th, 90th, 120th, 150th, and 180th days of life. Smoothed percentiles for each variable were calculated according to the LMS method (LMS program version 1.16, Institute of Child Health, London). Except for cortisol, plasma levels of adrenal steroids decreased progressively from birth to 6 months of age. Plasma concentrations of 17OHP, 11DOC, and cortisol did not show gender differences, but testosterone and androstenedione were significantly higher in boys, and DHEAS levels were higher in girls. Longitudinal reference plasma levels for 17OHP, 11DOC, cortisol, DHEAS, testosterone, and androstenedione have been described in an adequate sample of healthy infants from birth to 6 months of age. These standards, displayed as smoothed percentiles, may be used as reference values in the management of congenital endocrine (adrenal or gonadal) abnormalities that appear in the first weeks of life.

Longitudinally mapping the influence of sex and androgen signaling on the dynamics of human cortical maturation in adolescence

“…However, regardless of sex, possession of a genetic variant conferring increased androgen receptor efficiency was associated with a masculinization of the rate of cortical thickness change, implying that males and females with greater levels of cerebral androgen receptor signaling show a more masculine pattern of adolescent cortical maturation than their same-sex peers. This strongly supports the notion that the presence of several-fold greater levels of circulating androgens in males compared with females during prenatal and adolescent development (46,47) is likely to contribute to between-sex differences in human cortical anatomy.…”

Development of adrenal cortical zonation and expression of key elements of adrenal androgen production in the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) from birth to adulthood

“…The human fetal adrenal serves an integral physiologic partner in pregnancy maintenance by virtue of the massive production in the fetal zone of estrogenic precursors, especially DHEA and DHEA sulfate, which are converted into estrogens by the placenta. Soon after birth, the fetal zone of the human adrenal involutes by a process that likely involves apoptosis (Bech et al, 1969; Bocian-Sobkowska et al, 1998; Spencer et al, 1999) and this regression is accompanied by reductions in circulating levels of DHEA and DHEA sulfate (Forest et al, 1978; Garagorri et al, 2008). …”

Functional glucocorticoid receptor gene variants do not underlie the high variability of 17-hydroxyprogesterone screening values in healthy newborns

“…We were aware that even within a sample restricted to screening cards taken from babies born at term (37-42 weeks of gestation) with a screening performed between the second and fourth day of life both gestational and postnatal age represent a significant interfering factor concerning steroid hormone measurements (1,15). To overcome this, we have repeated several statistical analyses within subgroups of equal gestational and postnatal age (e.g., 38, 39 or 40 weeks only; second or third postnatal day only), but still failed Table 1 Birth characteristics, newborn screening measurements (nmol/l), and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) genotypes within the total study sample (nZ1000).…”