Puberty Flashcards
What are the four main events that occur in puberty?
- Secondary sex characteristics appear and mature
- Adolescent growth spurt occurs
- Fertility is achieved
- Profound physiological and psychological effects are observed
When are the three puberties of life?
- Prenatal spike
- Postnatal spike
- Adolescent spike
Why might a young patient with head trauma present with early onset of puberty?
Trauma may have caused damage to the gonadostat
What is the order of events in girls’ puberty?
- Breast budding
- Growth spurt
- Pubic hair
- Menarche
What is the order of events in boys’ puberty?
- Testicular enlargement
- Pubic hair
- Penile enlargement
- Height spurt
Define:
- Thelarche
- Pubarche
- Godarche
- Thelarche: breast development
- Pubarche: pubic hair development
- Godarche: gonadal development
What is the effect of insulin on the ovaries?
Interferes with the production of androgens in the thecal cells
What would the LH levels in someone with premature ovarian failure be like?
Elevated
- Very irregular periods, once or twice per year
Describe LH and FSH release in the 3 stages of puberty.
Early - tonic phase increases, night pulses begin
Mid - greater increase in tonic phase, higher amplitude in night pulses
Late - day and night pulses
What changes occur in the childhood to puberty transition?
- Turn off gonadostat
- Increased pulsatile GNRH and LH/FSH secretion
- Increased sex steroid production
- Reduced sensitivity to negative feedback from sex steroids
What is the relationship of Kisspeptin to puberty?
- Expressed where gonadostat thought to lie
- Kisspeptin neurons send projections to preoptic nucleus
- Inactivation of receptor leads to failure to go into puberty
What is the kisspeptin receptor?
GPR54
Inhibin is produced by ___ cells in males and ___ cells in females
Leydig in males
Granulosa in females
What is the role of leptin in puberty?
- Adipostatic hormone
- Increased leptin with increased fat mass
- Facilitatory signal to influence timing of puberty
What is adrenarche?
- Increased adrenal androgen production
- Occurs in late childhood
- Produces pubarche
- NOT a sign of puberty
