Changes of serum concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone, its sulfate, 11-deoxy-17-ketosteroids, cortisol, estradiol, testosterone, prolactin and gonadotropins in normal prepubertal and pubertal females.

The concentrations of serum dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA), DHA sulfate (DHA-S), 11-deoxy-17-ketosteroids (11-deoxy-17-KS), cortisol (F), estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), prolactin (PRL), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) were measured by means of radioimmunoassays in 157 prepubertal and pubertal girls whose age ranged from 5 to 16. Among the hormones studied, DHA exhibited a first significant increment at age 8, ahead of all other hormones. The significant increases of 11-deoxy-17-KS and DHA-S occurred at age 9 and 10, respectively. After the occurrence of the significant increment, the concentrations of these androgens increased progressively with age. DHA/DHA-S ratio showed a decreasing trend with the advance of age. F did not show any significant variation with age. E2 increased significantly at age 11 and T at age 10. PRL increased significantly at age 12 but its concentration did not seem to vary very much with age after 9. FSH and LH started to increase after age 9, with their significant increases occurring at age 10 and 9, respectively. These results confirm that during the course of pubertal development in girls, adrenal androgens increase first, which is followed by pituitary gonadotropins and then gonadal estrogen.