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Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction.It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles in a male.
As puberty begins and sex hormone levels rise, differences appear, though some changes are similar in males and females. Male levels of testosterone directly induce the growth of the genitals, and indirectly (via dihydrotestosterone (DHT)) the prostate. Estradiol and other hormones cause breasts to develop in females.
These hormone levels also control the uterine (menstrual) cycle causing the proliferation phase in preparation for ovulation, the secretory phase after ovulation, and menstruation when conception does not occur. The activation of the HPG axis in both males and females during puberty also causes individuals to acquire secondary sex characteristics.
In response to the signals, the gonads produce hormones that stimulate libido and the growth, function, and transformation of the brain, bones, muscle, blood, skin, hair, breasts, and sex organs. Physical growth—height and weight—accelerates in the first half of puberty and is completed when an adult body has been developed. Until the ...
During menopause, estrone is the predominant circulating estrogen and during pregnancy estriol is the predominant circulating estrogen in terms of serum levels. Given by subcutaneous injection in mice, estradiol is about 10-fold more potent than estrone and about 100-fold more potent than estriol. [ 14 ]
Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce.In humans, it is related to both puberty and adulthood. [1] Puberty is the biological process of sexual maturation, while adulthood, the condition of being socially recognized as an independent person capable of giving consent and taking responsibility, generally implies sexual maturity (certain disorders of sexual development ...
[2] [3] Growth hormone (GH), which is secreted from the pituitary gland, and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which is produced in the body in response to GH, are growth-mediating hormones. [4] During prenatal development, infancy, and childhood, GH and IGF-1 levels are low, but progressively increase and reach a peak at puberty, [5] with ...
Endocrine hormones are a well-known and critical controlling factor in the normal differentiation of the reproductive system. [8] The Wolffian duct forms the epididymis, vas deferens, ejaculatory duct, and seminal vesicle in the male reproductive system, but essentially disappears in the female reproductive system. [9]