Reproductive Puberty

doi:10.1017/9781108881760.003

Chapter 2 - Reproductive Puberty

from Section 1 - Physiology of Reproduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2021

Edited by

Eliezer Girsh

Show author details

Eliezer Girsh: Affiliation:
Barzilai Medical Center, Ashkelon

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Puberty is a process in which a child’s body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction and involves physiologic, somatic, and constitutional changes associated with further development of the internal and external genitalia and secondary sex characteristics. On average, girls begin the process at the age of 10–11 and end puberty at around 15–17, while boys begin at around the ages of 11–12 and end at around 16–17. Puberty which starts earlier than average is known as precocious puberty and puberty which starts later than usual is known as delayed puberty. The onset of puberty is the consequence of a complex sequence of maturation in the central nervous system (CNS) that is not fully understood. A critical body mass is required before the CNS begins to activate puberty [1]. Two autonomous but associated processes, controlled by different mechanisms, but strictly linked temporally, are involved in the amplified secretion of sex steroids in the peripubertal and pubertal period.

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: A Textbook of Clinical Embryology , pp. 8 - 12

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108881760.003 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Frisch, RE, Revelle, R. Height and weight at menarche and hypothesis of menarche. Arch. Dis. Child. 1971; 46:695–701.Google Scholar

Grumbach, MM, Richards, GE, Conte, FA, Kaplan, SL. Clinical disorders of adrenal function and puberty: an assessment of the role of the adrenal cortex in normal and abnormal puberty in man and evidence for an ACTH-like pituitary adrenal androgen stimulating hormone. In: Serio, M, ed., The Endocrine Function of the Human Adrenal Cortex. New York: Academic Press. 1978; 583–612.Google Scholar

Grumbach, MM, Roth, JC, Kaplan, SL, Kelch, RP. Hypothalamic-pituitary regulation of puberty in man: evidence and concepts derived from clinical research. In: Grumbach, MM, Grave, GD, Mayer, FE, eds., Control of the Onset of Puberty. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 1974; 115–166.Google Scholar

Worthman, CM. The epidemiology of human development. In: Worthman, CM, Panter-Brick, C, eds., Hormones, Health and Behavior. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1999; 47–104.Google Scholar

Parker, CR Jr. Dehydroepiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate production in the human adrenal during development and aging. Steroids 1999; 64:640–647.CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Orentreich, N, Brind, JL, Vogelman, JH, Andres, R, Baldwin, H. Long-term longitudinal measures of plasma dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in normal men. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 1992; 75:1002–1014.Google Scholar

Baulieu, EE. Neurosteroids: a novel function of the brain. Psychoneuroendocrinology 1998; 23:963–987.Google Scholar

Majewska, MD. Neuronal actions of dehydroepiandrosterone. Possible role in brain development, aging, memory and affect. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1995; 774:111–120.CrossRef Google Scholar

Labrie, F, Belanger, A, Simard, J, Luu-The Van, , Labrie, C. DHEA and peripheral androgen and estrogen formation: intracinology. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1995; 774:16–28.Google Scholar

Argquitt, AB, Stoecker, BJ, Hermann, JS, Winterfeldt, EA. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, cholesterol, hemoglobin, and anthropometric measures related to growth in male adolescents. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 1991; 91:575–579.Google Scholar

Dorn, LD, Hitt, SF, Rotenstein, D. Biopsychological and cognitive differences in children with premature vs. on-time adrenarche. Arch. Pediat. Adolesc. Med. 1999; 153:137–146.Google Scholar

Nass, R, Baker, S, Sadler, AE, Sidtis, JJ. The effects of precocious adrenarche on cognition and hemispheric specialization. Brain Cogn. 1990; 14:59–69.Google Scholar

Gottsch, ML, Cunningham, MJ, Smith, JT, et al. A role for kisspeptins in the regulation of gonadotropin secretion in the mouse. Endocrinology 2004; 145:4073–4077.Google Scholar

Cariboni, A, Pimpinelli, F, Colamarino, S, et al. The product of X-linked Kallmann’s syndrome gene (KAL1) affects the migratory activity of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-producing neurons. Hum. Mol. Genet. 2004; 13:2781–2791.Google Scholar

Ferris, HA, Shupnik, MA. Mechanisms for pulsatile regulation of the gonadotropin subunit genes by GNRH1. Biol. Reprod. 2006; 74:993–998.Google Scholar

Liu, F, Austin, DA, Mellon, PL, Olefsky, JM, Webster, NJ. GnRH activates ERK1/2 leading to the induction of c-fos and LHbeta protein expression in LbetaT2 cells. Mol. Endocrinol. 2002; 16:419–434.Google Scholar

Scherf, KS, Behrman, M, Dahl, RE. Facing changes and changing faces in adolescence: a new model for investigating adolescent-specific interactions between pubertal, brain and behavioral development. Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 2012; 2:199–299.Google Scholar

Bouchard, P, Wolf, JP, Hajri, S. Inhibition of ovulation: comparison between the mechanism of action of steroids and GnRH analogues. Hum. Reprod. 1988; 3:503–506.Google Scholar

Bethea, CL, Centeno, ML, Cameron, JL. Neurobiology of stress-induced reproductive dysfunction in female macaques. Mol. Neurobiol. 2008; 38:199–230.Google Scholar

Booth, RA Jr, Weltman, JY, Yankov, VI, et al. Mode of pulsatile follicle-stimulating hormone secretion in gonadal hormone-sufficient and -deficient women – a clinical research center study. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 1996; 81:3208–3214.Google Scholar

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.