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Updated: Oct 20, 2025

Construction of Vapor Chambers Used to Expose Mice to Alcohol During the Equivalent of all Three Trimesters of Human Development
Published on: July 13, 2014
How alcohol affects insulin-like growth factor-1's influences on the onset of puberty: A critical review
William L Dees1, Jill K Hiney1, Vinod K Srivastava1
1Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.
Abstract:
Alcohol (ALC) is capable of delaying signs associated with pubertal development in laboratory animals, as well as in humans. The normal onset of puberty results from a timely increase in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion, which is associated with a gradual decline in prepubertal inhibitory influences, and the establishment of excitatory inputs that increase GnRH release, which together drive pubertal development. In recent years, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) has emerged as a pivotal contributor to prepubertal GnRH secretion and pubertal development, whose critical actions are interfered with by ALC abuse. Here we review the neuroendocrine research demonstrating the important role that IGF-1 plays in pubertal development, and describe the detrimental effects and mechanisms of action of ALC on the onset and progression of pubertal maturation.
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