You are here:
Environmental factors and puberty timing: Expert panel research needs
Citation:
BUCK LOUIS, G. M., L. E. GRAY, M. MARCUS, S. R. OJEDA, O. H. PESCOVITZ, W. SIPPELL, S. F. WITCHEL, D. H. ABBOTT, A. SOTO, R. W. TYL, J. BOURGUIGNON, N. E. SKAKKEBAEK, S. H. SWAN, M. S. GOLUB, M. WABITSCH, J. TOPPARI, AND S. EULING. Environmental factors and puberty timing: Expert panel research needs. PEDIATRICS. American Academy of Pediatrics, Elk Grove Village, IL, 122(Supplement):S192-S207, (2008).
Impact/Purpose:
Serono Symposia International convened an expert panel to review the impact of environmental influences on the regulation of pubertal onset and progression while identifying critical data gaps and future research priorities.
Description:
An expert panel reviewed the literature on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), body size and puberty. The panel concluded that available experimental animal and human data support a possible role of EDCs and body size in relation to alterations in pubertal onset and progression in boys and girls. Critical data gaps prioritized for future research initiatives include: 1) etiologic research focusing on environmentally relevant levels of EDCs, body size and puberty and its variants; and 2) exposure assessment during critical windows of human development; and 3) basic research to identify the primary signal(s) for the onset of GnRH-dependent/central puberty and GnRH-independent/peripheral puberty. Prospective studies of couples planning pregnancies or pregnant women are needed to capture the continuum of exposures at critical windows while assessing a spectrum of pubertal markers. Coupled with comparative species studies, such research may provide insight regarding the causal ordering of events underlying pubertal onset and progression and its role in the pathway of adult onset disease.
