Pubertal disorders in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a systemic review

Soumaya Boussaid; Sonia Rekik; Hanene Lassoued Ferjani; Maissa Abbes; Safa Rahmouni; Khaoula Zouaoui; Rim Dhahri; Wafa Hamdi; Hela Sahli

doi:10.1515/jpem-2024-0412

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Article

Pubertal disorders in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a systemic review

Soumaya Boussaid , Sonia Rekik , Hanene Lassoued Ferjani , Maissa Abbes , Safa Rahmouni , Khaoula Zouaoui , Rim Dhahri , Wafa Hamdi and Hela Sahli

Published/Copyright: March 28, 2025

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From the journal Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Volume 38 Issue 6

Abstract

Introduction

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a chronic inflammatory disease beginning before 16 years. Inflammatory cytokine, medication, and genetic factors may lead to puberty disorders in children with JIA. The main objectives of this systematic review were to elucidate the impact of JIA on puberty and identify the influential factors that disrupt puberty.

Content

A systematic literature review was performed on pubertal disorders from Medline, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases. This systematic review followed the preferred reporting items for systematic review guidelines. The initial search yielded 4,011 articles: identified by Google Scholar (3,880), PubMed (99), and Scopus (940). Finally, 11 articles were retained.

Summary and Outlook

The age of menarche onset, Tanner stage, and pubertal signs were later compared with controls. The mean age of menarche onset ranged from 12.0 ± 0.3 to 13.39 ± 0.93 years for the JIA girls. This delay was more reported in the polyarticular and oligoarticular subtypes. Menstrual irregularities, metrorrhagia with irregular cycles, primary oligomenorrhea, and secondary amenorrhea were also reported. Factors found to influence delayed menarche and puberty were steroid use, JIA subtype, disease duration, and age at onset. Any studies have focused on the effect of puberty on JIA outcomes. Overall, our review revealed that pubertal disorders are frequent in JIA patients with polyarticular and systemic subtypes. However, some influencing factors remain editable if well-assessed and controlled.

Keywords: juvenile idiopathic arthritis; puberty; delay; disorders; sexual maturation

Corresponding author: Soumaya Boussaid, Associate Professor, Rheumatology Department, Rabta Hospital, 1007 Tunis, Tunisia; and Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia, E-mail: soumayaboussaid@hotmail.com

Research ethics: Not applicable.
Informed consent: Not applicable.
Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: Artificial Intelligence was utilized to enhance the English and properly structure the references.
Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.
Research funding: None declared.
Data availability: Not applicable.

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Received: 2024-08-25

Accepted: 2025-03-05

Published Online: 2025-03-28

Published in Print: 2025-06-26

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2024-0412

Keywords for this article

juvenile idiopathic arthritis; puberty; delay; disorders; sexual maturation