The Prepuberal and Puberal Growth of the Adrenal (Adrenarche)

Dhom, G.

doi:10.1016/s0005-8165(73)80086-1

Cited by 168 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In humans, adrenarche precedes the activation of gonads at the end of the prepubertal phase of development. Specific changes in androgen secretions have been related to the development of the zona reticularis (ZR) and its major androgen products, DHEA and DHEA-S (Dhom 1973, Conley et al 2004. After birth, the prominent fetal zone of the adrenal gland undergoes involution but is restored in early childhood when the neocortex develops into the adult adrenal with a ZR (Bech et al 1969).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adrenarche in bonobos (Pan paniscus): evidence from ontogenetic changes in urinary dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate levels

Behringer¹,

Hohmann²,

Stevens³

et al. 2012

Journal of Endocrinology

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Adrenarche is characterized by the onset of adrenal secretions of increasing amounts of dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S). While the function of adrenarche remains a matter of speculation, evidence suggests that the morphological and physiological changes related to it are restricted to humans and closely related primates. Within the primate order, adrenarche has been described only in humans and chimpanzees, but bonobos, the sister species of chimpanzees, have not yet been studied regarding the early ontogenetic changes such as adrenarche. While bonobos and chimpanzees share many morphological and behavioral characteristics, they differ in a number of behavioral traits, and there is a growing interest in terms of the physiological differences that can be linked to species-specific patterns of social behavior. In this study, we measured urinary DHEA-S levels to determine whether bonobos experience physiological changes that are indicative of adrenarche. We measured DHEA-S in urine using ELISA and analyzed its levels in the samples from 53 bonobos aged 1-18 years. Our results show that bonobos experience an increase in DHEA-S levels after 5 years of age, which is comparable with the patterns observed in humans and chimpanzees. This indicates that bonobos do undergo adrenarche and that the timing of onset is similar to that of the two Pan species. The extraction procedures described in this report demonstrate the use of urine for monitoring ontogenetic changes in DHEA-S excretion. If applicable to other species, the technique would facilitate more research on the evolutionary origin of adrenarche and other developmental processes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adrenarche in bonobos (Pan paniscus): evidence from ontogenetic changes in urinary dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate levels

Behringer¹,

Hohmann²,

Stevens³

et al. 2012

Journal of Endocrinology

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“…For example, heart weight was reported to vary as the 0.98th power of body weight while kidney weight varied as the 0.67th power of body weight (i.e. surface area) in a wide variety of species (Price and White 1985 (Haensly and Getty 1968) or for the human where adrenal weight was found to be highly correlated to body surface area (Dhom 1973 (Cutler and Loriaux 1980). Several researchers have suggested that adrenal steroids may play a role in determining the onset of puberty in both the human (Collu and Ducharme 1975) and rat (Gorski and Lawton 1973).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Comparative Physiological Development of the Reproductive and Adrenal Axis of the Gilt From Weaning to Puberty

Evans¹,

Christopherson²,

Aherne³

1988

Can. J. Anim. Sci.

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“…Some authors have suggested that the increase in adrenal androgen production at adrenarche is due to some maturational change within the adrenal gland itself (11)(12)(13). It has been reported that the zona reticularis, the innermost zone of the adrenal cortex that predominantly secretes adrenal androgens, appears at the time of adrenarche (11).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The potential endogenous adrenal gland mechanisms regulating adrenal androgen secretion include maturation and zonation of the adrenal gland (11), adrenal blood flow that may expose the inner zone to high concentrations of cortisol (12), and changes in the properties of the adrenal enzymes and their co-factors (13)(14)(15). Alternatively, factors outside the adrenal gland have been proposed, such as prolactin (16), growth hormone (17), insulin (18), sex steroids (19,20) and fragments of the ACTH precursor molecule, pro-opiomelanocortin, such as b-endorphin (21) and joining peptide (21,22).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra-adrenal factors are not involved in the differential control of cortisol and adrenal androgens in human adrenals

Fearon

Clarke²,

McKenna³

et al. 1998

European Journal of Endocrinology

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The differential control of adrenal androgens and cortisol may be due to intra-adrenal factors, which may be age-or sex-related, or due to extra-adrenal factors, such as circulating hormones. The purpose of this study was to identify any intrinsic differences that may exist in steroidogenic production occurring within adrenals obtained from males and females, and any maturational differences that may evolve with age. Using human adrenals from 48 transplant donors (32 males, 16 females; ages 5-60 years), the influences of age and sex on basal production of and ACTH-stimulated cortisol, androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) were examined in freshly prepared adrenal cell suspensions. Basal and ACTH-stimulated cortisol, androstenedione and DHEA production were similar in adrenals from males and females and did not correlate significantly with age when the whole group was examined. When steroidogenesis in male and female adrenals was examined separately against age, a significant correlation was observed only for basal and ACTH-stimulated androstenedione in adrenals from males in the younger age group, 5-30 years (basal: r ¼ 0.84, P ¼ 0.0001; ACTH-stimulated: r ¼ 0.52, P ¼ 0.007). Examination of the relationships between the steroids disclosed that the basal and ACTH-stimulated cortisol/androgen ratios did not correlate significantly with age, but the androstenedione/DHEA ratio showed a significant direct relationship with age in males only (basal: r ¼ 0.53, P ¼ 0.006; ACTH-stimulated: r ¼ 0.5, P=0.01).These data suggest that the influences of sex and age are minor in the modulation of adrenal steroidogenesis and support the concept that extra-adrenal factors dominate in the differential modulation of adrenal androgens and cortisol. The relationship between the androstenedione/ DHEA ratio and increasing age in men is consistent with the recently reported stimulatory effect of testosterone on adrenal steroidogenesis by induction of the conversion of DHEA to androstenedione.

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The Prepuberal and Puberal Growth of the Adrenal (Adrenarche)

Cited by 168 publications

References 30 publications

Adrenarche in bonobos (Pan paniscus): evidence from ontogenetic changes in urinary dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate levels

Adrenarche in bonobos (Pan paniscus): evidence from ontogenetic changes in urinary dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate levels

The Comparative Physiological Development of the Reproductive and Adrenal Axis of the Gilt From Weaning to Puberty

Intra-adrenal factors are not involved in the differential control of cortisol and adrenal androgens in human adrenals

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