This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Palmert, M. R. Articles by Boepple, P. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Palmert, M. R. Articles by Boepple, P. A.

Leptin Levels in Children with Central Precocious Puberty¹

Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Children’s Hospital (M.R.P., S.R.), Boston, Massachusetts 02115; the Clinical Investigator Training Program: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center-Harvard/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology, in collaboration with Pfizer, Inc. (M.R.P.), Boston, Massachusetts 02115; and the Pediatric and Reproductive Endocrine Units, Massachusetts General Hospital (P.A.B.), Boston, Massachusetts 02114

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Paul A. Boepple, M.D., Reproductive Endocrine Unit, Bartlett Hall Extension 5, Massachusetts General Hospital, Fruit Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114.

Several studies have suggested that sufficient serum leptin levels may be involved in the initiation of puberty. To assess further the relationship between leptin and the onset of puberty in humans, we measured the serum leptin concentration in children with central precocious puberty (CPP). We studied 65 children with either idiopathic (IPP; n = 50 girls and 3 boys) or neurogenic central precocious puberty (NPP; n = 5 girls and 7 boys). The serum leptin levels in these patients were compared with normative data from healthy children and adolescents using SD scores that adjust for body mass index (BMI) and Tanner stage.

The mean SD scores of IPP and NPP girls were +0.4 ± 0.1 and +1.0 ± 0.5, respectively, compared with that of age-matched prepubertal girls and +0.7 ± 0.2 and +1.6 ± 0.6 compared with that of girls matched for pubertal stage. The CPP girls with lower BMIs contributed larger SD scores, such that the leptin SD score was negatively correlated with BMI. A similar, modest increase in leptin levels in the CPP girls was evident when additional normative data were considered. The mean leptin SD scores of IPP and NPP boys were -0.9 ± 0.5 and +0.7 ± 0.3, respectively, compared with that of normal boys at Tanner stage 3–4. Serum leptin levels in the boys with CPP were not different from those in healthy boys in any of the normative studies.

These data should be interpreted cautiously, but they suggest that girls with CPP have modestly elevated serum leptin concentrations compared with those in healthy children and adolescents. In addition, the negative correlation between the leptin SD score and BMI suggests that sufficient leptin levels may be associated with initiation of puberty in girls.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J.-P. Bonjour and T. Chevalley Pubertal Timing, Peak Bone Mass and Fragility Fracture Risk IBMS BoneKEy, February 1, 2007; 4(2): 30 - 48. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. D. Veldhuis, J. N. Roemmich, E. J. Richmond, and C. Y. Bowers Somatotropic and Gonadotropic Axes Linkages in Infancy, Childhood, and the Puberty-Adult Transition Endocr. Rev., April 1, 2006; 27(2): 101 - 140. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. M. Plant and M. L. Barker-Gibb Neurobiological mechanisms of puberty in higher primates Hum. Reprod. Update, January 1, 2004; 10(1): 67 - 77. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. APTER The Role of Leptin in Female Adolescence Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., November 1, 2003; 997(1): 64 - 76. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A.-S. Parent, G. Teilmann, A. Juul, N. E. Skakkebaek, J. Toppari, and J.-P. Bourguignon The Timing of Normal Puberty and the Age Limits of Sexual Precocity: Variations around the World, Secular Trends, and Changes after Migration Endocr. Rev., October 1, 2003; 24(5): 668 - 693. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. L. Barker-Gibb, A. Sahu, C. R. Pohl, and T. M. Plant Elevating Circulating Leptin in Prepubertal Male Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca mulatta) Does Not Elicit Precocious Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Release, Assessed Indirectly J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., November 1, 2002; 87(11): 4976 - 4983. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Kilciler, M. Ozata, C. Oktenli, S.Y. Sanisoglu, E. Bolu, N. Bingol, M. Kilciler, I. C. Ozdemir, and M. Kutlu Diurnal Leptin Secretion Is Intact in Male Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism and Is Not Influenced by Exogenous Gonadotropins J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., November 1, 2002; 87(11): 5023 - 5029. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Terasawa and D. L. Fernandez Neurobiological Mechanisms of the Onset of Puberty in Primates Endocr. Rev., February 1, 2001; 22(1): 111 - 151. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				F. Andreelli, H. Hanaire-Broutin, M. Laville, J. P. Tauber, J. P. Riou, and C. Thivolet Normal Reproductive Function in Leptin-Deficient Patients with Lipoatropic Diabetes J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., February 1, 2000; 85(2): 715 - 719. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				Is Obesity an Outcome of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonist Administration? Analysis of Growth and Body Composition in 110 Patients with Central Precocious Puberty J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., December 1, 1999; 84(12): 4480 - 4488. [Abstract] [Full Text]