Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40591449›Full record

ArticleEndocrine connections2025

Role of KNDy neurons in puberty onset in male offspring following prenatal androgen exposure.

Runfei Ge, Yun Zhang, Yongting Yuan, Tingting Li, Guiyu Qiu, Shuaijun Guo, Lianguo Fu

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Article in Endocrine connections, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Runfei GeR Ge, Department of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Bengbu Medical University, Bengbu, China.
Yun ZhangY Zhang, Department of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Bengbu Medical University, Bengbu, China.
Yongting YuanY Yuan, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China.
Tingting LiT Li, Department of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Bengbu Medical University, Bengbu, China.
Guiyu QiuG Qiu, Department of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Bengbu Medical University, Bengbu, China.
Shuaijun GuoS Guo, Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
Lianguo FuL Fu, Department of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Bengbu Medical University, Bengbu Medical University, Bengbu, 233030, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveEmerging evidence links prenatal androgen excess to altered pubertal timing, yet the neuroendocrine mechanisms mediating this effect in male offspring remain poorly characterized. This study aimed to investigate the effects of prenatal androgen exposure on the timing of puberty onset in male offspring and the role of KNDy neurons in this process.

methodsEight-week-old pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats (n=16) were randomized into control (olive oil) and prenatal androgen (PNA, testosterone injection) groups (n=8 per group). Hypothalamic samples of 6 male offspring rats at postnatal day (PND) 21 (n=3 per group) were collected for transcriptome analysis. The time of puberty onset was recorded in 36 male offspring (n=18 per group). Serum samples and hypothalamic tissue from 12 male offspring rats (n=6 per group) were collected and GnRH, LH, FSH, and Kisspeptin 1 protein levels were measured by ELISA. mRNA levels of Kiss1, Tac3, and Pdyn were measured by real-time qPCR. In the brains of 6 male offspring rats (n=3 per group), protein levels of Kisspeptin, Neurokinin B (NKB), and Dynorphin (Dyn) in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) were measured using immunohistochemistry.

resultsCompared to controls, PNA male offspring rats showed significantly earlier puberty onset (P < 0.001). At PND21, Tac3 (P < 0.01) and Pdyn (P < 0.05) expression levels increased significantly in PNA male offspring rats. At puberty, ARC Kisspeptin protein levels increased (P < 0.01), while Dynorphin protein levels decreased (P < 0.01) in PNA male offspring rats.

conclusionPrenatal androgen exposure accelerates puberty onset of male offspring rats, likely by activating Tac3 expression in early life and reducing ARC Dynorphin inhibition of Kisspeptin neurons at puberty.

Identifiers

PMID40591449
PMCPMC12278364

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.