OBJECTIVE: To present the methods for clinical evaluation of sexual maturation in adolescents. METHODS: Bibliographic review concerning the practice of pubertal staging. RESULTS: The assessment of sexual maturation is an essential step in the comprehensive health care of adolescents, allowing for the evaluation of their developmental stage. In addition, this assessment allows establishing a cor...

In tilapia, growth during critical periods of the life cycle varies at different ages of development and is influenced by sexual maturation. The mechanisms controlling gametogenesis and how growth affects this process are poorly understood. This study indicates that tilapia exhibit a sexually dimorphic growth pattern in which males grow faster and bigger than females. During critical periods of...

Estrogens are essential for bone mass accrual but their role before sexual maturation has remained elusive. Using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, we investigated the expression of both estrogen receptor (ER) alpha and beta mRNA and protein as well as several mRNAs coding for enzymes involved in sex steroid metabolism (aromatase, type I and II 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase...

To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying switching from asexual to sexual reproduction, namely sexual induction, we developed an assay system for sexual induction in the hermaphroditic planarian species Dugesia ryukyuensis. Ovarian development is the initial and essential step in sexual induction, and it is followed by the formation of other reproductive organs, including the testes. He...

OBJECTIVE To analyze methodological and ethical aspects in the sexual maturation assessment of adolescents. DATA SOURCES Books and theses, articles and legislations on the Medline, SciELO, Science Direct databases, besides institutional documents of the World Health Organization and the Pediatric Societies of Brazil and São Paulo, considering the period from 1962 to 2012. The following keywords...