[en] Among 32 patients with idiopathic central precocious puberty seen during a 3-year period, 1/4 were adopted children from developing countries who showed early sexual maturation during the catch-up process following their arrival in Belgium. To study the possible mechanism accounting for such clinical observations, we used the male rat as a model, and evaluated the effect of variations in early nutritional conditions, by manipulating litter size, on hypothalamic and testicular maturation. We had shown previously that, in the male rat, onset of puberty was preceded, between 15 and 25 days of age, by a transiently increased activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors involved in a facilitatory control of pulsatile secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone. We also showed that the proportion of elongated spermatids in testicular cell homogenates increased between 25 and 45 days of age. When compared to pups of a small litter (6/dam), those of a large litter (14/dam) showed a reduced growth rate (1.9 vs. 3.5 g/day) before weaning (21 days), whereas they grew at a similar rate (5.6 vs. 4.7 g/day) after weaning. At 35 days of age, the animals raised in the large litter showed evidence of delayed hypothalamic and testicular maturation when compared to animals from the small litter. Reduction of litter size at 17 days allowed food-restricted pups of a large litter to resume a normal growth rate before weaning.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Disciplines :
Endocrinology, metabolism & nutrition
Author, co-author :
Bourguignon, Jean-Pierre ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences cliniques > Pédiatrie
Gerard, Arlette ; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège - CHU > Pédiatrie
Alvarez Gonzalez, Maria-Luz ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences cliniques > Labo de biologie des tumeurs et du développement
Fawe, L.
Franchimont, P.
Language :
English
Title :
Effects of Changes in Nutritional Conditions on Timing of Puberty: Clinical Evidence from Adopted Children and Experimental Studies in the Male Rat
Tanner, J.M., (1962) Growth at Adolescence, , ed 2, Oxford, Blackwell
Wolff, O.H., Obesity in childhood: A study of the birth weight, the height and the onset of puberty (1955) QJ Med, 24, pp. 109-116
Ellis, R.W.B., Growth and health of Belgian children during and alter the German occupation (1945) Arch Dis Child, 20, pp. 97-109
Tanner, J.M., Trend towards earlier menarche in London. Oslo. Copenhagen. The Netherlands, and Hungary (1973) Nature, 243, p. 95
Glass, A.R., Swerdloff, R.S., Nutritional influences on sexual maturation in the rat (1980) Fed Proc, 39, pp. 2360-2364
Aubert, M.L., Arsenijcvic, Y., Gruaz, N., Sizonenko, P.C., Nutritional and metabolic aspects of sexual maturation in the rat (1990) Developmental Endocrinology. Ares Serono Symposia, 67, pp. 79-101. , Sizonenko PC, Aubert ML (eds), New York. Raven Press
Bronson, F.H., Food-restricted prepubertal female rats: Rapid recovery of luteinizing hormone pulsing with excess food and full recovery of pubertal development with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (1986) Endocrinology, 118, pp. 2483-2487
Sisk, C.L., Bronson, F.H., Effects of food restriction and restoration on gonadotropin and growth hormone secretion in immature male rats (1986) Biol Reprod, 35, pp. 554-561
Dubey, A.K., Cameron, J.L., Steiner, R.A., Plant, T.M., Inhibition of gonadotropin secretion in castrated male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) induced by dietary restriction: Analogy with the prepubertal hiatus of gonadotropin release (1986) Endocrinology, 118, pp. 518-525
Foster, D.L., Ebling, F.J.P., Micka, A.F., Vannerson, L.A., Bucholtz, D.C., Wood, R.I., Suttie, J.M., Fenner, D.E., Metabolic interfaces between growth and reproduction. I. Nutritional modulation of gonadotropin. Prolactin and growth hormone secretion in the growth-limited female lamb (1989) Endocrinology, 125, pp. 342-350
Thomas, G.B., Mercer, J.E., Karalis, T., Rao, A., Cummins, J.T., Clarke, I.J., Effect of restricted feeding on the concentrations of growth hormone (GH), gonadotropins, and prolactin (PRL) in plasma, and on the amounts of messenger ribonucleic acid for GH. Gonadotropin subunits, and PRL in the pituitary glands of adult ovariectomized ewes (1990) Endocrinology, 126, pp. 1361-1367
Frisch, R.E., McArthur, J.W., Menstrual cycles: Fatness as a determinant of minimum weight for height necessary for their maintenance or onset (1974) Science, 185, pp. 149-151
Proos, L.A., Hofvander, Y., Tuvemo, T., Menarcheal age and growth pattern of Indian girls adopted in Sweden (1991) Acta Paediatr Scand, 80, pp. 852-858
Cameron, N., Jones, P.R.M., Moodic, A., Mitchell, J., Bowie, M.D., Mann, M.D., Hansen, J.D.L., Timing and magnitude of adolescent growth in height and weight in Cape coloured children after kwashiorkor (1986) J Pediatr, 109, pp. 548-555
Bourguignon, J.P., Gérard, A., Mathicu, J., Mathieu, A., Franchimont, P., Maturation of the hypothalamic control of pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone at onset of puberty. I. Increased activation of N-mcthyl-D-aspartate receptors (1990) Endocrinology, 127, pp. 873-881
Bourguignon, J.P., Gérard, A., Franchimont, P., Maturation of the hypothalamic control of pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone at onset of puberty. II. Reduced potency of an inhibitory autofeedback (1990) Endocrinology, 127, pp. 2884-2890
Bourguignon, J.P., Gérard, A., Mathieu, J., Simons, J., Franchimont, P., Pulsatile release of gonadotropin releasing hormone from hypothalamic explants is restrained by blockade of N-methyl- D, L aspartate receptors (1989) Endocrinology, 125, pp. 1090-1096
Bourguignon, J.P., Gérard, A., Debougnoux, G., Rose, J., Franchimont, P., Pulsatile release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from the rat hypothalamus in vitro: Calcium and glucose dependency and inhibition by superactive GnRH analogs (1987) Endocrinology, 121, pp. 993-999
Bourguignon, J.P., Franchimont, P., Puberty-related increase in episodic LHRH release from rat hypothalamus in vitro (1984) Endocrinology, 114, pp. 1941-1943
Bourguignon, J.P., Gérard, A., Alvarez Gonzalez, M.L., Fawe, L., Franchimont, P., Gonadal independent developmental changes in activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors involved in gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion (1992) Neuroendocrinology, 55, pp. 634-641
Bourguignon, J.P., Gérard, A., Alvarez Gonzalez, M.L., Franchimont, P., The neuroendocrine mechanism of onset of puberty: Sequential reduction in activity of inhibitory and facilitatory N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors J Clin Invest, , press
Wong, E.F., Kemp, J.A., Priestely, T., Knight, A.R., Woodruff, G.N., Iversen, L.L., The anticonvulsant MK-801 is a potent N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist (1986) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 83, pp. 7104-7108
Bourguignon, J.P., Ciérard, A., Deby-Dupont, G., Franchimont, P., Effects of growth hormone therapy on the developmental changes of follicle stimulating hormone and insulin-like growth factor-I serum concentrations in Turner syndrome, , Submitted
Ghafoorunissa, Undernutrition and fertility of male rats (1980) J Reprod Fertil, 59, pp. 317-320
Glass, A.R., Herbert, D.C., Anderson, J., Fertility onset, spermatogenesis, and pubertal development in male rats: Effect of graded underfeeding (1986) Pediatr Res, 20, pp. 1161-1167
Kennedy, G.C., Mitra, J., Body weight and food intake as initiating factors for puberty in the rat (1963) J Physiol (Lond), 166, pp. 408-418
Parfitt, D.B., Church, K.R., Cameron, J.L., Restoration of pulsatile luteinizing hormone secretion after fasting in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta): Dependence on size of the refeed meal (1991) Endocrinology, 129, pp. 749-756
Cameron, J.L., Weltzin, T.E., McConaha, C., Helmreich, D.L., Kaye, W.H., Slowing of pulsatile luteinizing hormone secretion in men after fortyeight hours of fasting (1991) J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 73, pp. 35-41
Brady, L.S., Smith, M.A., Gold, P.W., Herkenham, M., Altered expression of hypothalamic neuropeptide mRNAs in food-restricted and fooddeprived rats (1990) Neuroendocrinology, 52, pp. 441-447
Cameron, J.L., Nosbisch, C., Suppression of pulsatile luteinizing hormone and testosterone secretion during short term food restriction in the adult male rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) (1991) Endocrinology, 128, pp. 1532-1540
Cagampang, F.R.A., Maeda, K.I., Tsukamura, H., Ohkura, S., Ota, K., Involvement of ovarian steroids and endogenous opioids in the fastinginduced suppression of pulsatile LH release in ovariecclomizcd rats (1991) J Endocrinol, 129, pp. 321-328
Bergendahl, M., Perheentupa, A., Huhtaniemi, I., Effect of short-term starvation on reproductive hormone gene expression, secretion and receptor levels in male rat (1989) J Endocrinol, 121, pp. 409-417
Kile, J.P., Alexander, B.M., Moss, G.E., Hallford, D.M., Nett, T.M., Gonadotropin-releasing hormone overrides the negative effect of reduced dietary energy on gonadotropin synthesis and secretion in ewes (1991) Endocrinology, 128, pp. 843-849
Root, A.W., Reiter, E.O., Duckett, G.E., Sweetland, M.L., Effect of short-term castration and starvation upon hypothalamic content of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone in adult male rats (1975) Proc Soc Exp Biol Med, 150, pp. 602-605
Ebling, F.J.P., Wood, R.I., Karsch, F.J., Vannerson, L.A., Suttie, J.M., Bucholtz, D.C., Schall, R.E., Foster, D.L., Metabolic interfaces between growth and reproduction. III. Central mechanisms controlling pulsatile luteinizing hormone secretion in the nutritionally growth-limited female lamb (1990) Endocrinology, 126, pp. 2719-2727
Küderling, I., Dorsch, G., Wamhoff, M., Pirke, K.M., The actions of prostaglandin E2, naloxone and testosterone on starvation-induced suppression of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone and luteinizing-hormone secretion (1984) Neuroendocrinology, 39, pp. 530-537
Steiner, R.A., Nutritional and metabolic factors in the regulation of reproductive hormone secretion in primates (1987) Proc Nutr Soc, 46, pp. 159-175
Cameron, J.L., Nutritional and metabolic determinants of GnRH secretion in primate species (1989) Control of the Onset of Puberty III, pp. 275-284. , Delemarre-Van de Waal HA, et al. (eds), Amsterdam. Excerpta Medica
Gustafson, J.M., Dodds, S.J., Burgus, R.C., Mercer, L.P., Prediction of brain and serum free amino acid profiles in rats fed graded levels of protein (1986) J Nutr, 116, pp. 1667-1681
Glass, A.R., Harrison, R., Swerdloff, R.S., Effect of undernutrition and amino acid deficiency on the timing of puberty in rats (1976) Pediatr Res, 10, pp. 951-955
Jean-Fauchcr, C., Berger, M., de Turckheim, M., Veyssière, G., Jean, C., The effect of preweaning undernutrition upon the sexual development of male mice (1982) Biol Neonate, 41, pp. 45-51
Bartlett, J.M.S., Charlton, H.M., Robinson, I.C.A.F., Nieschlag, E., Pubertal development and testicular function in the male GH deficient rat (1990) J Endocrinol, 126, pp. 193-201
Maes, M., Underwood, L.E., Gérard, G., Ketelslegers, J.M., Relationship between plasma somatomedin-C and liver somatogenic binding sites in neoratal rats during malnutrition and after short and long term refeeding (1984) Endocrinology, 115, pp. 786-792
Donovan, S.M., Atilano, L.C., Hintz, R.L., Wilson, D.M., Rosenfeld, R.G., Differential regulation of the insulin-like growth factors (IGF-I and -II) and IGF binding proteins during malnutrition in the neonatal rat (1991) Endocrinology, 129, pp. 149-157
