Puberty effects

Aksnes L, Aarskog D. Plasma concentrations of vitamin D metabolites in puberty effect of sexual maturation and implications for growth. J CMn Endocrinol Metab 1982 55 94-101. 

ATANASSOVA N, MCKINNELL C, TURNER K J, WALKER M, FISHER J S, MORLEY M, MILLAR M R, GROOME N p, SHARPE R M (2000) Comparative effects of neonatal exposure of male rats to potent and weak (environmental) estrogens on spermatogenesis at puberty and the relationship to adult testis size and fertility evidence for stimulatory effects of low estrogen lew eh,. Endocrinology. 141 3898-907. 

Coppola D.M. and Vandenbergh J.G. (1985). Effect of density, duration of grouping and age of urine stimulus on the puberty delay pheromone in female mice. J Reprod Fertil 73, 517-522. 

Izard M.K. and Vandenbergh J.G. (1982b). Effects of bull urine on puberty and calving date in crossbred heifers. J Anim Sci 55, 1160-1168. 

Orbach J. and Kling A. (1966). Effect of sensory deprivation on onset of puberty, mating, fertility and gonadal weights in rats. Brain Res 73, 141-149. 

In leukemia, the intensified use of methotrexate and glucocorticoids is responsible for causing an increased frequency of neurotoxicity and, in older children and adults, avascular necrosis of bone. High cumulative doses of anthracyclines can cause cardiomyopathy. Cranial irradiation causes neuropsychologic deficits and endocrine abnormalities that lead to obesity, short stature, precocious puberty, and osteoporosis.3 As newer and more intensive treatments enter clinical trials, close observation for long-term side effects will assume even greater importance.24... 

Evidence that BPH could be hormone related came from studies of a population of pseudohermaphrodites in the Dominican Republic. These individuals are genetically male, but do not display normal male genitalia until the onset of puberty. They are therefore raised as females until puberty. Studies revealed that these pseudohermaphrodites are deficient in an isoform of the enzyme steroid 5a-reductase, which is responsible for catalyzing the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). In addition to the overt sexual manifestations of this condition, affected individuals show no incident of male pattern baldness, mild or no acne, and underdevelopment of the prostate. These observations led researchers to postulate that a selective inhibitor of steroid 5a-reductase would be an effective treatment for BPH. 

Phillippo, M., W.R. Humpheries, T. Atkinson, G.D. Henderson, and P.H. Garthwaite. 1987a. The effect of dietary molybdenum and iron on copper status, puberty, fertility and oestrous cycles in cattle. Jour. Agric. Sci. (Cambridge) 109 321-326. 

Among the endocrine organs, the testes are unique because they are suspended in a tissue pouch outside of the body cavity. The testes can be felt and these organs are vulnerable to physical insults, either deliberate or accidental. The effects of castration were described by Aristotle over three hundred years B.C. Removal of the testes or castration as a form of punishment or tribute dates to antiquity. Domestic animals and some cases humans were castrated to make them more docile. Castrata were valued as harem keepers. In addition, seasonal changes in behavior and the dramatic anatomical and behavioral events associated with puberty were components of the natural world (Bronson and Heideman, 1994). Thus, an awareness of a relationship between the testes and human behavior predates written history. 

A series of investigations initiated during this period led to the conclusion that DBS use by the mothers of these young women was the causative factor. Diethylstilbestrol is a developmental toxicant, because its effect was the result of exposures received in utero, but that effect - a rare form of vaginal cancer - was not fully expressed for about two decades following the exposure (the age at which the incidence of the disease peaked was later shown to be 19). The DES produced not only cancer but abnormalities of the sexual organs in both male and female offspring, most of which were not expressed until the children passed the age of puberty. 

These effects have names associated with their discoverers the induction of estrus in adult females by males is known as the Whitten effect the acceleration of puberty in immature females by males is known as the Vanderburgh effect. Perhaps you can work these terms into the conversation at your next cocktail party. People may be impressed. 

The list of pheromone controls on reproductive behavior can be extended female pheromones inhibit estrus in adult females and delay puberty in juvenile females, Lee-Boot effect male pheromones can block pregnancy, Bruce effect pheromones from dominant females can suppress reproduction in subordinate females and so on. Have a look at Wyatt s book for an abundance of examples. 

Lee-Boot effect inhibition of estrus in adult females or delay of puberty in juvenile females by female pheromones. 

Vanderburgh effect the acceleration of puberty in immature females by males. Virulence factor a protein responsible for the ability of bacteria to cause disease. 

The explanation for this phenomenon is that in the prepubertal phase the amount of testosterone that is secreted is not sufficient to cause development of the male genitalia, which is normally stimulated by dihydrotestosterone. However, at puberty the secretion of testosterone increases. The increase is large in this syndrome, because lack of dihydrotestosterone decreases the extent of the feedback inhibition of the hormone secretions by the pituitary so that more gonadotrophins are released which stimulate, markedly, the rate of testosterone secretion and hence its concentration in the blood. At these high levels, testosterone has sufficient androgenic effects to stimulate development of the external genitalia. 

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