Urinary Sex Steroids and Anthropometric Markers of Puberty - A Novel Approach to Characterising Within-Person Changes of Puberty Hormones

Background/Aims The longitudinal relationships of within-individual hormone and anthropometric changes during puberty have not ever been fully described. The objectives of this study were to demonstrate that 3 monthly urine collection was feasible in young adolescents and to utilise liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay methods for serum and urine testosterone (T), estradiol (E 2 ) and luteinizing hormone (LH) in adolescents by relating temporal changes in urine and serum hormones over 12 months to standard measures of pubertal development. Methods A community sample of 104 adolescents (57 female) was studied over 12 months with annual anthropometric assessment, blood sampling and self-rated Tanner staging and urine collected every 3 months. Serum and urine sex steroids (T, E 2 ) were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and LH by immunoassay. Results A high proportion (92%) of scheduled samples were obtained with low attrition rate of 6.7% over the 12 months. Urine hormone measurements correlated cross-sectionally and longitudinally with age, anthropometry and Tanner stage. Conclusion We have developed a feasible and valid sampling methodology and measurements for puberty hormones in urine, which allows a sampling frequency by which individual pubertal progression in adolescents can be described in depth.