Volume 44, April 2014, Pages 15–22
Environmental factors in dysregulation of puberty timing and progression
Review
Puberty dysregulation and increased risk of disease in adult life: Possible modes of action
Highlights
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- Pre-puberty and puberty maturation mechanisms are vulnerable to xenobiotics.
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- Estrogen/androgen balance is crucial in gender-specific tuning of the puberty.
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- EDs exposure may substantially alter the puberty maturation process.
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- EDs should be viewed as agents who affect all organic systems.
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- Specific pubertal methylation and immunomodulation are priorities for research.
Abstract
Puberty
is the developmental window when the final maturation of body systems
is orchestrated by hormones; lifelong sex-related differences and
capacity to interact with the environment are defined during this life
stage. Increased incidence in a number of chronic, multifactorial
diseases could be related to environmental exposures during puberty:
however, insight on the susceptibility of the peripubertal period is
still limited. The estrogen/androgen balance is a crucial axis in
harmonizing the whole pubertal development, pointing out the
significance of exposures to endocrine disruptors. Besides the
reproductive system, endocrine-related perturbations may affect the
maturation of skeleton, adipose
tissues, brain, immune system, as well as cancer predisposition. Thus,
risk assessment of environmental stressors should duly consider specific
aspects of the pubertal window. Besides endocrine-related mechanisms,
suggested research priorities include signaling molecules (e.g.,
kisspeptins, dopamine) as xenobiotic targets and disturbances of
specific pubertal methylation processes potentially involved in
neurobehavioral disorders and cancer risk in adulthood.
Keywords
- Juvenile toxicology;
- Cancer;
- Genotoxicity;
- Metabolism;
- Growth;
- Endocrine disruptors;
- Adolescence
- Corresponding author at: Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Ksaverska c 2, Croatia. Tel.:
+385 14682500; fax: +385 14673303.
Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
