Statistical Methods In Human Development/clinical Studies

National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

We have carried out an analysis using data from the Parkinsons Progression and Markers Initiative to evaluated whether the presence of selected non-motor symptoms from five major domains are associated with concurrent and future nigrostriatal dopaminergic function in newly diagnosed PD patients (manuscript in review). At present, we are also looking at certain non-motor symptoms such as reduced sense of smell and infrequent bowel movements as early biomarkers for Parkinson's disease. (collaboration with: Freya Kamel, formerly EB, now retired; and Honglei Chen, formerly EB, currently Michigan State University). Data collection for a study of the effects of soy estrogen on neonatal development carried out at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is now complete (collaboration with Walter Rogan, formerly EB, now retired). We have recently published a paper describe ultrasound features in thyroid, breast buds, testes, uterus, and ovaries that vary from the expected tissue architecture in infants up to 32 weeks old. Knowledge of these asymptomatic variants occurring in infancy may guide radiologists in interpretation of clinical exams. In ongoing work, we are examining growth trajectories of ovarian volume through 32 weeks and how the volume is influenced by the presence of ovarian cysts. We are also looking age trajectories of testis volume and anogenital distance in infant boys and whether those trajectories differ in infants fed soy formula, cow-milk formula, and breast milk. Twenty-three girls (gynecologic age 0.4-3.5 yrs) underwent hormone measurements and pelvic ultrasounds during two consecutive menstrual cycles, including frequent blood sampling during one follicular phase. In one paper based on these data, we reported that recent exposure to progesterone was associated with sleep-specific slowing of LH pulse frequency during the follicular phase in early post-menarchal girls, but it was not associated with inter-cycle FSH dynamics. These results suggest that an immature LH secretory pattern during sleep is unlikely to contribute to menstrual irregularity in the early post-menarchal years. In a second paper, we reported that early post-menarchal girls with normal ovulatory cycles demonstrated mature estrogen-positive feedback but had lower gonadotropin levels, diminished ovarian responsiveness, and decreased corpus luteum sex steroid synthesis compared with adults. That finding indicates that reproductive axis maturity requires coordinated development of all components of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis.