Salivary androgens in adolescence and their value as a marker of puberty: results from the SCAMP cohort

Patjamontri, S., Spiers, A., Smith, R. B., Shen, C., Adaway, J., Keevil, B. G., Toledano, M. B. and Ahmed, S. F. (2023) Salivary androgens in adolescence and their value as a marker of puberty: results from the SCAMP cohort. Endocrine Connections, 12(12), e230084. (doi: 10.1530/EC-23-0084) (PMID:37800674) (PMCID:PMC10692692)

Abstract

Salivary androgens represent non-invasive biomarkers of puberty that may have utility in clinical and population studies. To understand normal age-related variation in salivary sex steroids and demonstrate their correlation to pubertal development in young adolescents. School-based cohort study of 1,495 adolescents at two time points for collecting saliva samples approximately two years apart. The saliva samples were analyzed for five androgens (testosterone, androstenedione (A4), 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP), 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) and 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione (11-OHA4)) using LC-MS/MS; in addition, salivary dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and oestradiol (OE2) were analyzed by ELISA. Pubertal staging was self-reported using the pubertal development scale (PDS). In 1,236 saliva samples from 903 boys aged between 11-16 years, salivary androgens except DHEA exhibited an increasing trend with an advancing age (ANOVA, p<0.001), with salivary testosterone and A4 concentration showing the strongest correlation (r=0.55, p<0.001 and r=0.48, p<0.001, respectively). In a subgroup analysis of 155 and 63 saliva samples in boys and girls, respectively morning salivary testosterone concentrations showed the highest correlation with composite PDS scores and voice-breaking category from PDS self-report in boys (r=0.75, r=0.67, respectively). In girls, salivary DHEA and OE2 had negligible correlations with age or composite PDS scores. In boys aged 11-16 years, increase in salivary testosterone and A4 is associated with self-reported pubertal progress and represent valid non-invasive biomarkers of puberty in boys.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: SP is funded by the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. AS is supported by a PhD studentship from the Medical Research Council (MRC) (grant number MR/R015732/1). The study is currently funded by the MRC (MR/V004190/1) and was originally commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care via the independent Research Initiative on Health and Mobile Telecommunications – a partnership between public funders and the mobile phone industry (Secondary School Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Neurocognitive and Behavioural Outcomes/091/0212). The SCAMP study was part supported by the MRC Centre for Environment and Health, which is currently funded by the MRC (MR/S019669/1, 2019-2024). The SCAMP study is partly funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Environmental Exposures and Health and the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards, which are partnerships between UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Imperial College London (Health Protection Research Units-2012-10141). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the MRC, NIHR, UKHSA or the Department of Health and Social Care. Infrastructure support for the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics was provided by the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). MBT’s Chair is supported by a donation from Marit Mohn to Imperial College London to support Population Child Health through the Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing. RBS’s Fellowship in Population Child Health is funded by a donation from Marit Mohn to Imperial College London to support Population Child Health through the Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing. The Imperial College Healthcare Tissue Bank is supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ahmed, Professor Syed Faisal
• Authors: Patjamontri, S., Spiers, A., Smith, R. B., Shen, C., Adaway, J., Keevil, B. G., Toledano, M. B., and Ahmed, S. F.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing
• Journal Name: Endocrine Connections
• Publisher: BioScientifica Ltd
• ISSN: 2049-3614
• ISSN (Online): 2049-3614
• Published Online: 06 October 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Author(s)
• First Published: First published in Endocrine Connections 12(12):e230084
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a creative commons licence