Pilot study on the dietary habits and lifestyles of girls with idiopathic precocious puberty from the city of Rome: potential impact of exposure to flame retardant polybrominated diphenyl ethers
Abstract
Puberty is regulated by the endocrine system, which when disrupted can affect reproductive health. Endocrine disrupters (ED) are involved in the pathogenesis of idiopathic central precocious puberty (ICPP). Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) are lipophilic, persistent ED used as flame retardants in several products; thus, human population is exposed through food and domestic dust. PBDE exposure during the peripubertal period is suspected to interfere with reproductive development. The study aimed to investigate PBDE serum concentration in 31 girls with ICPP as well as describe their dietary habits and lifestyles. The PBDE median level was 59 ng/g of lipids, higher than in healthy girls in comparable studies. Interestingly, elder girls and girls with higher body mass index (BMI) showed higher PBDE serum levels. Considering the relevance of altered puberty onset as a risk factor for reproductive health, studies on food contribution to PBDE exposure in Italian children, and efforts to ameliorate risk assessment for emerging chemicals are suggested.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the Endocrinology Unit, ‘Bambino Gesù’ Children’s Hospital and the Adolescent Clinic of the University ‘Tor Vergata’ of Rome for the girl’s recruitment.
References
1. EFSA. Scientific opinion on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in food. EFSA J 2011;9:2156.10.2903/j.efsa.2011.2156Search in Google Scholar
2. Mantovani A, Fucic A. Puberty dysregulation and increased risk of disease in adult life: possible modes of action. Reprod Toxicol 2014;44:15–22.10.1016/j.reprotox.2013.06.002Search in Google Scholar PubMed
3. Chen A, Chung E, DeFranco EA, Pinney SM, Dietrich KN. Serum PBDEs and age at menarche in adolescent girls: analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–2004. Environ Res 2011;111:831–7.10.1016/j.envres.2011.05.016Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
4. Huang F, Wen S, Li J, Zhong Y, Zhao Y, et al. The human body burden of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and their relationships with thyroid hormones in the general population in Northern China. Sci Total Environ 2014;1:609–15.10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.07.008Search in Google Scholar PubMed
5. Sultan C, Gaspari L, Kalfa N, Paris F. Clinical expression of precocious puberty in girls. Endocr Dev 2012;22:84–100.10.1159/000334304Search in Google Scholar PubMed
6. Link B, Gabrio T, Mann V, Schilling B, Maisner V, et al. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) in blood of children in Baden-Württemberg between 2002/03 and 2008/09. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2012;215:224–8.10.1016/j.ijheh.2011.10.018Search in Google Scholar PubMed
©2015 by De Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Highlight: Turner syndrome
- Turner syndrome – working together with patients and their families
- Turner syndrome patients with bicuspid aortic valves and renal malformations exhibit abnormal expression of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP)
- Inhibin B in adolescents and young adults with Turner syndrome
- Mode of initial presentation and chromosomal abnormalities in Irish patients with Turner syndrome: a single-centre experience
- Retrospective evaluation of pubertal development and linear growth of girls with Turner Syndrome treated with oral and transdermal estrogen
- Turner syndrome in Albania and the efficacy of its treatment with growth hormone
- Review articles
- The relation of vitamin D status with metabolic syndrome in childhood and adolescence: an update
- Putting the pieces together: cryptorchidism – do we know everything?
- Original articles
- Investigation of androgen receptor gene mutations in a series of 21 patients with 46,XY disorders of sex development
- Molecular diagnosis of maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) in Turkish children by using targeted next-generation sequencing
- Association of physical activity level with depression, anxiety, and quality of life in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus
- Neonatal diabetes in Ukraine: incidence, genetics, clinical phenotype and treatment
- The effect of intraoperative administration of dexamethasone for PONV prophylaxis on perioperative blood glucose level in obese and normal weight children
- Are obesity and metabolic syndrome associated with plasma adropin levels in children?
- Carnitine insufficiency in children with inborn errors of metabolism: prevalence and treatment efficacy
- Comparison of energy expenditure, body composition, metabolic disorders, and energy intake between obese children with a history of craniopharyngioma and children with multifactorial obesity
- Effect of serum cholesterol on bone mineral density in normal-weight children and adolescents
- Assessment of bone turnover markers and bone mineral density in normal short boys
- Long-term treatment for hyperphenylalaninemia and phenylketonuria: a risk for nutritional vitamin B12 deficiency?
- Risk factors affecting the development of nephrocalcinosis, the most common complication of hypophosphatemic rickets
- Children with hyperthyroidism younger than age 7 require higher mg/kg doses of methimazole to normalize free T4 compared to older children
- Effects of bisphosphonates to treat osteoporosis in children with cerebral palsy: a meta-analysis
- AMH levels at central precocious puberty and premature thelarche: is it a parameter?
- Validating Paediatric Morphometrics: body proportion measurement using photogrammetric anthropometry
- Treatment of central precocious puberty and early puberty with GnRH analog in girls with Williams-Beuren syndrome
- Short communication
- Pilot study on the dietary habits and lifestyles of girls with idiopathic precocious puberty from the city of Rome: potential impact of exposure to flame retardant polybrominated diphenyl ethers
- Patient reports
- Hypomagnesemia due to two novel TRPM6 mutations
- A novel mutation of AMH in three siblings with persistent Mullerian duct syndrome
- Kocher-Debré-Semelaigne syndrome with rhabdomyolysis and increased creatinine
- Anaphylaxis to gonadorelin acetate in a girl with central precocious puberty
- Efficacy and safety of sirolimus in a neonate with persistent hypoglycaemia following near-total pancreatectomy for hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Highlight: Turner syndrome
- Turner syndrome – working together with patients and their families
- Turner syndrome patients with bicuspid aortic valves and renal malformations exhibit abnormal expression of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP)
- Inhibin B in adolescents and young adults with Turner syndrome
- Mode of initial presentation and chromosomal abnormalities in Irish patients with Turner syndrome: a single-centre experience
- Retrospective evaluation of pubertal development and linear growth of girls with Turner Syndrome treated with oral and transdermal estrogen
- Turner syndrome in Albania and the efficacy of its treatment with growth hormone
- Review articles
- The relation of vitamin D status with metabolic syndrome in childhood and adolescence: an update
- Putting the pieces together: cryptorchidism – do we know everything?
- Original articles
- Investigation of androgen receptor gene mutations in a series of 21 patients with 46,XY disorders of sex development
- Molecular diagnosis of maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) in Turkish children by using targeted next-generation sequencing
- Association of physical activity level with depression, anxiety, and quality of life in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus
- Neonatal diabetes in Ukraine: incidence, genetics, clinical phenotype and treatment
- The effect of intraoperative administration of dexamethasone for PONV prophylaxis on perioperative blood glucose level in obese and normal weight children
- Are obesity and metabolic syndrome associated with plasma adropin levels in children?
- Carnitine insufficiency in children with inborn errors of metabolism: prevalence and treatment efficacy
- Comparison of energy expenditure, body composition, metabolic disorders, and energy intake between obese children with a history of craniopharyngioma and children with multifactorial obesity
- Effect of serum cholesterol on bone mineral density in normal-weight children and adolescents
- Assessment of bone turnover markers and bone mineral density in normal short boys
- Long-term treatment for hyperphenylalaninemia and phenylketonuria: a risk for nutritional vitamin B12 deficiency?
- Risk factors affecting the development of nephrocalcinosis, the most common complication of hypophosphatemic rickets
- Children with hyperthyroidism younger than age 7 require higher mg/kg doses of methimazole to normalize free T4 compared to older children
- Effects of bisphosphonates to treat osteoporosis in children with cerebral palsy: a meta-analysis
- AMH levels at central precocious puberty and premature thelarche: is it a parameter?
- Validating Paediatric Morphometrics: body proportion measurement using photogrammetric anthropometry
- Treatment of central precocious puberty and early puberty with GnRH analog in girls with Williams-Beuren syndrome
- Short communication
- Pilot study on the dietary habits and lifestyles of girls with idiopathic precocious puberty from the city of Rome: potential impact of exposure to flame retardant polybrominated diphenyl ethers
- Patient reports
- Hypomagnesemia due to two novel TRPM6 mutations
- A novel mutation of AMH in three siblings with persistent Mullerian duct syndrome
- Kocher-Debré-Semelaigne syndrome with rhabdomyolysis and increased creatinine
- Anaphylaxis to gonadorelin acetate in a girl with central precocious puberty
- Efficacy and safety of sirolimus in a neonate with persistent hypoglycaemia following near-total pancreatectomy for hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia