Pubertal hormones play an important role in brain and psychosocial development. However, the role of abnormal HPG axis states in altering brain function and structure remains unclear. The present study is aimed at determining whether there were significant differences in gray matter volume (GMV) and resting state (RS) functional connectivity (FC) patterns in girls with idiopathic central precocious puberty (CPP) and peripheral precocious puberty (PPP). We further explored the correlation between these differences and serum pubertal hormone levels. To assess this, we recruited 29 idiopathic CPP girls and 38 age-matched PPP girls. A gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulation test was performed, and pubertal hormone levels (including luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol (E2), prolactin, and cortisol) were assessed. All subjects underwent multimodal magnetic resonance imaging of brain structure and function. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis was paired with seed-to-voxel whole-brain RS-FC analysis to calculate the GMV and RS-FC in idiopathic CPP and PPP girls. Correlation analyses were used to assess the effects of pubertal hormones on brain regions with structural and functional differences between the groups. We found that girls with CPP exhibited decreased GMV in the left insula and left fusiform gyrus, while connectivity between the left and right insula and the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG), as well as the left fusiform gyrus and right amygdala, was reduced in girls with CPP. Furthermore, the GMV of the left insula and peak FSH levels were negatively correlated while higher basal and peak E2 levels were associated with increased bilateral insula RS-FC. These findings suggest that premature activation of the HPG axis and pubertal hormone fluctuations alter brain structure and function involved in the cognitive and emotional process in early childhood. These findings provide vital insights into the early pathophysiology of idiopathic CPP.

中文翻译：

---

青春期性早熟女孩的大脑结构和功能连接性与青春期激素相关。

青春期激素在大脑和社会心理发展中起重要作用。然而，HPG轴异常状态在改变大脑功能和结构中的作用尚不清楚。本研究旨在确定患有特发性中枢性早熟（CPP）和周围性早熟（PPP）的女孩在灰质体积（GMV）和静止状态（RS）功能连接（FC）模式上是否存在显着差异。我们进一步探讨了这些差异与血清青春期激素水平之间的相关性。为了评估这一点，我们招募了29位特发性CPP女孩和38位年龄相匹配的PPP女孩。进行促性腺激素释放激素（GnRH）刺激测试，并检测青春期激素水平（包括黄体生成激素（LH），促卵泡激素（FSH），雌二醇（E2），催乳素，和皮质醇）进行了评估。所有受试者均接受了大脑结构和功能的多峰磁共振成像。将基于体素的形态计量学（VBM）分析与“种子到体素全脑RS-FC”分析配对，以计算特发性CPP和PPP女孩的GMV和RS-FC。相关分析用于评估青春期激素对大脑区域的影响，各组之间在结构和功能上存在差异。我们发现患有CPP的女孩在左岛和左梭状回的GMV降低，而在左岛和右岛与右中额回（MFG）以及左梭状回和右杏仁核之间的连通性降低。 CPP的女孩。此外，左岛的GMV和FSH峰值呈负相关，而较高的基础和E2峰值与双侧岛的RS-FC升高相关。这些发现表明，HPG轴的过早激活和青春期激素波动会改变儿童早期认知和情绪过程中涉及的大脑结构和功能。这些发现为特发性CPP的早期病理生理学提供了重要的见识。