Salivary Testosterone during the Minipuberty of Infancy

Contreras, Mauricio; Raisingani, Manish; Chandler, Donald Walt; Curtin, W.D.; Barillas, Julia; Brar, Preneet Cheema; Prasad, Kris; Shah, Bina; David, Raphael

doi:10.1159/000454862

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…On the other hand, and similar to some previous studies [12,13,15], in boys, serum testosterone concentrations were correlated with LH, and both hormones showed attenuation of after 3 months of age in mini-puberty. However, higher size of penis and penile circumference observed in older male infants during mini-puberty which was unrelated to measured total testosterone concentrations.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Development of external genitalia during mini-puberty: is it related to somatic growth or reproductive hormones?

Gacemer,

Tosun,

Helvacioglu

et al. 2023

Eur J Pediatr

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Although hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis is active during mini-puberty, its relationship with somatic growth and the role on the development of external genitalia has not been fully elucidated. We aimed to evaluate the effects of somatic growth and reproductive hormones on the development of external genitalia during mini-puberty. MethodsAnthropometric data, pubertal examination, serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), androstenedione (A4), sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG), estradiol (E2) and inhibin-B, testosterone (T) and anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) of healthy infants aged 1-4 months were evaluated. Free sex hormone index was calculated as T/SHBG for boys and E2/SHBG for girls. ResultsThe mean age of 148 (74 female) infants included in the study was 2.31 ± 0.76 months. Tanner stage 2-3 sex steroid and gonadotropin levels were observed. A statistically signi cant difference was found between the weight, height, BMI, weight gain and serum FSH, LH, A4 measurements of girls and boys (p < 0.05). Penile length was associated with weight (r = 0.24, p = 0.03), height (r = 0.25, p = 0.02) and AMH (r = 0.3, p = 0.01), but not with testosterone (p = 0.56 respectively). A negative correlation was found between weight and serum LH (r=-0.26, p = 0.2) and T/SHBG levels in males (r=-0.38, p = 0.015 respectively). Weight-SDS was negatively correlated with testosterone in males (r=-0.25, p = 0.02). Testicular size and breast stage did not correlate with any of the hormonal and anthropometric parameters. ConclusionsExternal genitalia in males during mini-puberty is related more to somatic growth rather than reproductive hormones. Similar pubertal developmental stages, total and free testosterone is associated negatively with higher weight in mini-puberty.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Development of external genitalia during mini-puberty: is it related to somatic growth or reproductive hormones?

Gacemer,

Tosun,

Helvacioglu

et al. 2023

Eur J Pediatr

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“…This study’s results supported our hypothesis that testosterone would a better predictive hormonal biomarker for physical growth and socioemotional development among VLBW infants than cortisol. Elevated testosterone levels, which were higher than those in other studies (Contreras et al, 2017; Fang et al, 2017), were longitudinally associated with physical growth delays over the 2 years of life. Such findings might have occurred because elevated testosterone levels were found to be related to preterm and low birthweight births in both human and animal studies (Cho et al, 2012; Quinn et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 63%

Associations Between Hormonal Biomarkers and Preterm Infant Health and Development During the First 2 Years After Birth

Cho

Chien

Holditch‐Davis

2020

Biological Research For Nursing

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Background: Testosterone levels have been used to examine infant boys’ vulnerability to health and developmental problems, following the general theories of gender differences and the theory of extreme male brain of autism. Objectives: As testosterone is a representative androgen hormone and is higher in preterm than full-term infants, we used this steroid to determine if hypothalamic pituitary hormones, testosterone, and cortisol, were related to physical growth, health, and development of very-low-birthweight (VLBW, BW < 1,500 g) infants. Method: For this comparative longitudinal study, 40 VLBW infants were recruited from a neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary medical center. Data were collected from medical record reviews, questionnaires, and assessments of infant development at 6, 12, and 24 months. We collected saliva at the three time points and measured hormones using enzyme-immunoassays. Results: General and generalized mixed models showed that a 1pg/ml increment of testosterone was related to a −0.42% decrease in body weight, a −0.18% decrease in length, and a −0.10% decrease in head circumference. Cortisol levels were not associated with any outcome variable. The interactions between testosterone and time on physical growth and socioemotional development also occurred. Discussion: Elevated testosterone levels can be a biological risk factor for poor infant growth and development. Theories about the effects of elevated prenatal testosterone could be useful in predicting health and developmental outcomes among VLBW infants. Research beyond the first 2 years will be needed as infants show more socioemotional and behavioral problems as they grow older.

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“…First, two studies examined the associations between T and child health including autistic spectrum disorder (El-Baz et al, 2014;Kung et al, 2016), whereas nine studies examined the associations of T levels with child development including physical growth (bodyweight, length, body mass index, skinfold triceps) (Becker et al, 2015;Kiviranta et al, 2016), motor and language development (Cho et al, 2017;Whitehouse et al, 2012), pubertal transition (Mouritsen et al, 2014), anogenital distance in neonates (Avidime et al, 2011;Jain et al, 2018;Kareem et al, 2020), and postnatal activation of HPG axis after insulin injection (de Jong et al, 2012). The second category included the five studies that aimed to identify T measurements with greater accuracy and precision by comparing methods and materials (Ankarberg-Lindgren & Norjavaara, 2015;Contreras et al, 2017;Fang et al, 2017;Hamer et al, 2018;Knickmeyer et al, 2011). In the third category, four studies developed a method that was capable of the simultaneous measurement of multiple hormones (Kushnir et al, 2010;Olisov et al, 2019;Salameh et al, 2010;Shen et al, 2009).…”

Section: Problem Statements and Aims Of Selected Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those studies compared methods including second-generation immunoassays and LC/MS (Hamer et al, 2018), RIA and LC/MS (Ankarberg-Lindgren & Norjavaara, 2015), EIA and 2D:4D ratio (Knickmeyer et al, 2011), and LC/MS and RIC (Fang et al, 2017). Those studies also compared saliva and serum (Contreras et al, 2017) and urine, saliva, and serum (Fang et al, 2017). Hamer et al ( 2018) measured total T levels with two widely used second-generation immunoassays (the Architect and the Elecsys second-generation T assays) and LC/MS concurrently and reported that second-generation immunoassays overestimated T levels in neonates.…”

Section: Et Almentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They also validated RIC against ELISA for urine, saliva, and serum samples and reported correlations between RIC and ELISA as 0.85-.90. Contreras et al (2017) collected saliva and blood samples from 30 infant boys ages between 1 and 4 months and 12 adolescent boys between 11 to 17 years old to determine if there was a correlation between salivary and serum T levels to clarify the biological significance of minipuberty. All samples were analyzed using LC/MS and showed a strong correlation between salivary and serum T levels in infants (r ¼ 0.637) and adolescents (r ¼ 0.799).…”

Section: Et Almentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Variability and Determinants of Testosterone Measurements in Children: A Critical Review

Goodman

Cho

et al. 2021

Biological Research For Nursing

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Aims: This critical review aimed to summarize: (1) the variability and determinants of testosterone (T) measurements; and (2) reference values for the variability and determinants of T measurements in children. Background: As T is a representative androgen, it has been widely used to explain male vulnerability to child health and developmental problems. T measurements in children, however, have been challenging because of low levels, diurnal and episodic secretion patterns, limited quantity and quality of the samples, and inconsistent study findings. Methods: The search strategy used PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Studies published between 2008 through 2020 that examined factors influencing T measurement were included. The final 30 studies were selected using two appraisal forms. We extracted five categories of data from the reports. Findings: Variability and determinants of T measurement included assay methods, the source of samples, and child demographic and environmental characteristics. T levels were higher 1–3 months after birth and in males up to 1 year; fewer sex differences were found up to 10–12 years. Serum T levels measured by using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry were most reliable because immunoassays overestimated the levels, especially in neonates. T levels were stable at different temperatures and durations of storage, although sample collection remained an ongoing challenge for researchers. Conclusion: Depending on the study aims and feasibility, mass-spectrometry, multi-methods, and multi-materials are the recent trends in T measurement. Immunoassays may be an option if the study aims for relative rather than absolute comparisons.

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Salivary Testosterone during the Minipuberty of Infancy

Cited by 11 publications

References 20 publications

Development of external genitalia during mini-puberty: is it related to somatic growth or reproductive hormones?

Development of external genitalia during mini-puberty: is it related to somatic growth or reproductive hormones?

Associations Between Hormonal Biomarkers and Preterm Infant Health and Development During the First 2 Years After Birth

The Variability and Determinants of Testosterone Measurements in Children: A Critical Review

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