Weise Martina, Eisenhofer Graeme, Merke Deborah P
Developmental Endocrinology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development/NIH, Building 10, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892-1932, USA.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002 Nov;87(11):5038-43. doi: 10.1210/jc.2002-020590.
A critical amount of body fat is necessary for the initiation of puberty, and leptin, an adipocyte-derived hormone, is necessary for pubertal development. The sympathoadrenal system modulates body fat stores and leptin secretion and interacts with adrenocortical androgen production, suggesting a possible role in sexual maturation. We studied sympathetic nerve and adrenomedullary activity at rest in 80 healthy children (ages, 5-17 yr; 37 boys and 43 girls) in relation to age, pubertal stage, gender, physical activity, body mass index, and serum levels of sex steroids, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, cortisol, leptin, and insulin. Plasma concentrations of the adrenomedullary hormone, epinephrine (E), and its metabolite metanephrine (MN), decreased significantly with advancing puberty and were higher in boys than in girls. E and MN correlated significantly and inversely with dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, estradiol, testosterone, leptin, and insulin. Plasma norepinephrine, which is primarily derived from sympathetic nerve endings, increased significantly with advancing puberty and increasing testosterone levels in boys. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that E was best predicted by pubertal stage and leptin, and MN by estradiol and leptin. Our data suggest that sympathoadrenal hormones may play a role in the complex process of sexual maturation. Further studies are needed to investigate a possible modulatory role of the adrenal medulla in the body weight-related timing of adrenarche and/or gonadarche.
青春期启动需要一定量的体脂，而瘦素这种脂肪细胞衍生的激素对青春期发育是必需的。交感肾上腺系统调节体脂储存和瘦素分泌，并与肾上腺皮质雄激素的产生相互作用，提示其在性成熟过程中可能发挥作用。我们研究了80名健康儿童（年龄5 - 17岁；37名男孩和43名女孩）静息时的交感神经和肾上腺髓质活动，这些活动与年龄、青春期阶段、性别、身体活动、体重指数以及性类固醇、硫酸脱氢表雄酮、皮质醇、瘦素和胰岛素的血清水平有关。肾上腺髓质激素肾上腺素（E）及其代谢产物间甲肾上腺素（MN）的血浆浓度随着青春期进展显著降低，且男孩高于女孩。E和MN与硫酸脱氢表雄酮、雌二醇、睾酮、瘦素和胰岛素显著负相关。主要源自交感神经末梢的血浆去甲肾上腺素随着青春期进展和男孩睾酮水平升高而显著增加。逐步多元回归分析显示，E最好由青春期阶段和瘦素预测，MN最好由雌二醇和瘦素预测。我们的数据表明，交感肾上腺激素可能在性成熟的复杂过程中发挥作用。需要进一步研究来探讨肾上腺髓质在与体重相关的肾上腺初现和/或性腺初现时间中的可能调节作用。
