Puberty comprises the transition from an immature juvenile to a mature adult state of the reproductive system, i.e. the individual becomes capable of reproducing sexually for the first time, which implies functional competence of the brain-pituitary-gonad (BPG) axis. Early puberty is a major problem in many farmed fish species due to negative effects on growth performance, flesh composition, ex...

introduction: genetic and health factors along with ethnicity and geographic location are factors that affect the time of puberty onset. the aim of the present study was to evaluate the mean age of onset of puberty and its stages in boys of yazd. methods: this cross- sectional study with random clustering sampling method was conducted on 1018 healthy 9-16 years old male students of yazd. all ca...

Precocious puberty can be induced in a majority of heifers weaned early and fed a high-concentrate diet. The objective of this experiment was to determine whether induction of precocious puberty is associated with an acceleration of ovarian maturation in heifers. Crossbred Angus and Simmental heifer calves were weaned at 104 +/- 2 (n = 18; early weaned) or 208 +/- 3 (n = 10; normal-weaned, NW) ...

In male golden hamsters, exposure to social stress during puberty alters aggressive behavior. Interestingly, agonistic behavior undergoes two major transitions during puberty: a decline in attack frequency and a shift from play fighting to adult-like aggression. Based on previous observations, we developed an approach for characterizing offensive responses as play fighting or adult-like. The pr...

The age of female puberty appears to have decreased in the United States and western countries as child health and nutrition have improved and obesity has become more prevalent. Also, environmental contaminants, particularly endocrine disruptors, may also play a role in lowering the age of puberty. Puberty at an early age increases the risk of stress, poor school performance, teen pregnancy, ea...

BACKGROUND Precocious puberty (PP) is defined as the appearance of secondary sex characteristic at an age <8 years in girls and <9 years in boys, or menarche <9 years in girls. OBJECTIVE To determine the etiologies and clinical characteristics of children presenting with PP. SUBJECTS AND METHOD The medical records of 307 children (292 girls, 15 boys) with PP (1995-2009) were reviewed. RES...

BACKGROUND A secular trend towards a younger age of puberty onset has been reported in Chilean girls. AIM To evaluate the age of onset of puberty and prevalence of early puberty in Chilean boys. MATERIAL AND METHODS A pediatric endocrinologist examined 319 children attending schools in central Santiago. Pubertal development was assessed by testicular volume (TV) and genital inspection (GI) ...

Recent developmental cognitive neuroscience research has supported the notion that puberty and adolescence are periods of profound socio-emotional development. The current study was designed to investigate whether the onset of puberty marks an increase in the awareness of complex, or "mixed," emotions. Eighty-three female participants (aged 9-16 years) were divided into three groups according t...

OBJECTIVE Early puberty in girls is linked to some adverse outcomes in adolescence and mid-life. We address two research questions: (1) Are socioeconomic circumstances and ethnicity associated with early onset puberty? (2) Are adiposity and/or psychosocial stress associated with observed associations? DESIGN Longitudinal data on 5839 girls from the UK Millennium Cohort Study were used to esti...

OBJECTIVE To examine changes in insulin sensitivity (SI), compensatory acute insulin response (AIR), and β-cell function/disposition index (DI) across puberty in overweight Latino boys and girls. STUDY DESIGN Latino children (n = 253) were followed annually for up to 5 years. Longitudinal modeling was used to examine changes in SI, AIR, DI, and fasting and 2-hour glucose and insulin across Ta...