<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Premature sexual development (PSD) in girls describes the appearance of secondary sexual signs before the age of 8 years. Early puberty is diagnosed if pubertal signs appear between the age of 8 and 9 years. We found a positive association between the levels of organochloride pesticides (p,p'-DDE) in precocious puberty in girls adopted from developing countries and significantly higher levels than in native Belgian girls with the same condition.</p><p>We have compared the serum levels of eight p,p'- DDE in 56 Macedonian girls with PSD and a control group of 24 normal, age-matched girls, using a gas chromatographic analyzer coupled to a tandem mass spectrometer detector. Of the 56 girls with PSD, 42 had premature thelarche, five had early puberty, and nine had precocious puberty of idiopathic (<italic>n</italic> = 8) or organic (<italic>n</italic> = 1) origin. We found traces of p,p'- DDE in nine girls (16%) and negative results in 41 (73%), while the remaining six (10%) had a mean level of 1.17 ± 0.7 μg/L. In the control group, traces were found in one girl (4%) and negative results in 18 (75%), while the remaining five (20%) had a mean level of 1.18 ± 0.6 μg/L. We found elevated levels of lindane in the girls with PSD (mean value 1.2 ± 0.8) and significantly higher levels in the control group (1.4 ± 0.8) (<italic>p</italic> &lt;0.05). We concluded that Macedonian girls with PSD do not have higher levels of p,p'-DDE in their serum than the normal controls. However, the elevated levels of lindane in this population should be further investigated.</p></abstract>

Premature sexual development (PSD) in girls describes the appearance of secondary sexual signs before the age of 8 years. Early puberty is diagnosed if pubertal signs appear between the age of 8 and 9 years. We found a positive association between the levels of organochloride pesticides (p,p'-DDE) in precocious puberty in girls adopted from developing countries and significantly higher levels than in native Belgian girls with the same condition.We have compared the serum levels of eight p,p'- DDE in 56 Macedonian girls with PSD and a control group of 24 normal, age-matched girls, using a gas chromatographic analyzer coupled to a tandem mass spectrometer detector. Of the 56 girls with PSD, 42 had premature thelarche, five had early puberty, and nine had precocious puberty of idiopathic (n = 8) or organic (n = 1) origin. We found traces of p,p'- DDE in nine girls (16%) and negative results in 41 (73%), while the remaining six (10%) had a mean level of 1.17 ± 0.7 μg/L. In the control group, traces were found in one girl (4%) and negative results in 18 (75%), while the remaining five (20%) had a mean level of 1.18 ± 0.6 μg/L. We found elevated levels of lindane in the girls with PSD (mean value 1.2 ± 0.8) and significantly higher levels in the control group (1.4 ± 0.8) (p <0.05). We concluded that Macedonian girls with PSD do not have higher levels of p,p'-DDE in their serum than the normal controls. However, the elevated levels of lindane in this population should be further investigated.

Organochloride Pesticides in Macedonian Girls With Premature Sexual Development

Department of Endocrinology and Genetics, Pediatric Clinic, Skopje, R. Macedonia

Laboratory of Toxicology, University of Liège, C.H.U. Sart Tilman, Liège, Belgium

Division of Ambulatory Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Liege, C.H.U. Sart Tilman, Liège, Belgium

Balkan Journal of Medical Genetics

{"article-title":"Organochloride Pesticides in Macedonian Girls With Premature Sexual Development"}

Premature sexual development (PSD) in girls describes the appearance of secondary sexual signs before the age of 8 years. Early puberty is diagnosed if...

Organochloride Pesticides in Macedonian Girls With Premature Sexual Development

Published Online: Oct 10, 2007

Page range: 43 - 48

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10034-007-0008-3

Keywords
Organochloride pesticides (p,p'- DDE), Premature sexual development (PSD)

This content is open access.

Organochloride Pesticides in Macedonian Girls With Premature Sexual Development

Published Online: Oct 10, 2007

Page range: 43 - 48

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10034-007-0008-3

KeywordsOrganochloride pesticides (p,p'- DDE), Premature sexual development (PSD)

This content is open access.

Keywords
Organochloride pesticides (p,p'- DDE), Premature sexual development (PSD)