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Precocious pubarche, dyslipidemia, and low IGF binding protein-1 in girls: relation to reduced prenatal growth
L Ibáñez1, N Potau, F de Zegher
1Hospital Materno-Infantil Vall d'Hebron, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Insights
Precocious pubarche (PP) in girls is linked to reduced prenatal growth. This study found that dyslipidemia and low IGF binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) in these girls are also associated with lower birth weight, suggesting a prenatal origin for these metabolic issues.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Metabolic Disorders
- Prenatal Development
Background:
- Reduced prenatal growth is increasingly linked to pediatric endocrinopathies and metabolic anomalies.
- Precocious pubarche (PP) is a condition characterized by early onset of puberty.
- Metabolic disturbances such as dyslipidemia and altered IGFBP-1 levels are common in children with PP.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between precocious pubarche (PP), dyslipidemia, and low serum IGF binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) in girls.
- To determine if these conditions are related to reduced prenatal growth, assessed by birth weight standard deviation (SD) scores.
Main Methods:
- Studied 187 girls (83 without PP, 104 with PP) aged 5-18 years.
- Measured fasting serum lipids, lipoproteins, and IGFBP-1 concentrations.
- Analyzed birth weight and gestational age to calculate birth weight SD scores.
Main Results:
- Girls with PP had significantly lower birth weight SD scores compared to those without PP.
- Within the PP group, girls with dyslipidemia and low IGFBP-1 exhibited the lowest birth weight SD scores (-2.02).
- Girls with normal metabolic profiles had higher birth weight SD scores (-0.37), indicating a dose-response relationship.
Conclusions:
- Dyslipidemia and low serum IGFBP-1 in girls with precocious pubarche are associated with reduced prenatal growth.
- These findings suggest a prenatal origin for these metabolic abnormalities in girls with PP.
- Early life growth trajectory may influence later metabolic health in girls presenting with PP.
Abstract:
An increasing series of pediatric endocrinopathies and metabolic anomalies has been recognized as related to reduced prenatal growth. We have tested whether the association of precocious pubarche (PP), dyslipidemia, and low serum IGF binding protein-1 in girls is also related to reduced prenatal growth. Fasting serum lipids, lipoproteins, and IGFBP-1 concentrations were measured in 187 girls (83 without PP and 104 with PP; mean age, 11.8 y; range, 5-18 y) with known birthweight and gestational age, the latter being transformed into birthweight SD scores. Birthweight SD scores of girls with PP were lower than those of girls without PP. Within the group of PP girls, those with dyslipidemia and low IGFBP-1 had lower (p < 0.0001) birth-weight SD scores (-2.02+/-0.23; mean +/- SEM) than those with normal lipids, lipoproteins, and IGFBP-1 (-0.37+/-0.15), whereas girls with an intermediate number of abnormalities had intermediate birthweight SD scores (-0.80+/-0.18). In conclusion, dyslipidemia and low serum IGFBP-1 in girls with PP were found to be related to reduced prenatal growth, an observation pointing to the prenatal origin of these metabolic abnormalities.