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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Pediatric Endocrinology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1491411
This article is part of the Research Topic Insights in Pediatric Endocrinology: 2024 View all 17 articles

Perfluorinated Compounds Linked to Central Precocious Puberty in Girls during COVID-19: An Untargeted Metabolomics Study

Provisionally accepted
Haidan Li Haidan Li 1Manfang Xie Manfang Xie 1*Hailing Luo Hailing Luo 1*Yuhua Cai Yuhua Cai 1*Li Liu Li Liu 1*Hongai Li Hongai Li 1*Yuanping Hai Yuanping Hai 2*Yi Ren Yi Ren 3Jing Xue Jing Xue 1*Xiaojie He Xiaojie He 4*Xiaoyan Huang Xiaoyan Huang 1*Wei Xiang Wei Xiang 3*
  • 1 Department of Pediatric, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
  • 2 Shunde Hospital, Southern Medical University, Foshan, Guangdong Province, China
  • 3 Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, Hainan Province, China
  • 4 Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The incidence of central precocious puberty (CPP) in girls increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to explore the impact of perfluorinated endocrine disruptors on CPP through metabolomics analysis in girls from Hainan Province, China.Methods: Serum samples from 100 girls with CPP and 100 healthy controls were collected.Untargeted metabolomics profiling was performed using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Exactive-Orbitrap-MS). Differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) were screened, and pathway enrichment analysis was conducted.Results: Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) revealed distinct metabolic profiles between the CPP and control groups. A total of 511 metabolites were identified, including 296 up-regulated DEMs and 255 down-regulated DEMs. Three perfluorinated compounds-PFSM-perfluoroalkyl_sulfonamide_Me, PFSM-FSAA, and PFCA-unsaturated-were significantly upregulated in the CPP group.KEGG pathway enrichment analysis suggested the involvement of multiple pathways in the CPP process regulated by these compounds.Conclusions: Perfluorinated compounds may promote CPP in girls by interfering with various pathways and affecting the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis function. This study highlighted the need for further research and public health measures to address environmental endocrine disruptors.

    Keywords: central precocious puberty, Metabolomics, Endocrine Disruptors, perfluorinated compounds, chilren

    Received: 04 Sep 2024; Accepted: 09 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Xie, Luo, Cai, Liu, Li, Hai, Ren, Xue, He, Huang and Xiang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Manfang Xie, Department of Pediatric, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
    Hailing Luo, Department of Pediatric, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
    Yuhua Cai, Department of Pediatric, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
    Li Liu, Department of Pediatric, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
    Hongai Li, Department of Pediatric, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
    Yuanping Hai, Shunde Hospital, Southern Medical University, Foshan, Guangdong Province, China
    Jing Xue, Department of Pediatric, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
    Xiaojie He, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
    Xiaoyan Huang, Department of Pediatric, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, China
    Wei Xiang, Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center, Haikou, Hainan Province, China

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