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Related Experiment Videos

Relation between hormones and body composition, including bone, in prepubertal children.

Sarah P Garnett1, Wolfgang Högler, Barbara Blades

  • 1Institute of Endocrinology and Diabetes and the Research and Development Office, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, Australia. sarahg@chw.edu.au

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
|September 28, 2004
PubMed
Summary

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Prepubertal girls have more body fat and higher lumbar spine bone density than boys, influenced by hormones like estradiol and leptin. However, these hormones only partially explain these sex differences in body composition and bone health.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Human Physiology
  • Bone Metabolism

Background:

  • Prepubertal children exhibit sex differences in body composition, the origins of which remain unclear.
  • Hormonal mediators of puberty, including sex steroids, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), and leptin, are implicated but their specific roles in prepubertal development are not well-defined.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the influence of IGF-I, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, and sex steroids on body composition and fat distribution in prepubertal children.
  • To examine the effects of these hormones, along with leptin, on total body bone mineral content (TBMC) and volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) at the femoral neck and lumbar spine.

Main Methods:

  • Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was utilized to assess body composition, fat distribution, TBMC, and vBMD.

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  • Regression analysis was employed to determine the associations between hormonal concentrations and body composition and bone parameters.

    • Main Results:

    • Girls exhibited greater total body fat, trunk fat, and lumbar spine vBMD, while boys had more fat-free soft tissue, TBMC, and femoral neck vBMD.
    • Girls presented significantly higher concentrations of IGF-I, estradiol, testosterone, and leptin compared to boys.
    • Estradiol levels correlated with body fat percentage, and leptin independently predicted lumbar spine vBMD, suggesting roles in fat storage and bone health.

    Conclusions:

    • The studied hormones accounted for 3-17% of the variance in body composition and bone density measures.
    • These findings indicate that other unmeasured factors play a significant role in establishing prepubertal sexual dimorphism in body composition and bone characteristics.