Lipidomics reveals ceramide biomarkers for detecting central precocious puberty in girls.

Background: Pubertal timing is modulated by complex interactions between the pituitary and gonadal sex steroid hormones. Evidence indicates that sphingolipids are involved in the biosynthesis of steroid hormones at multiple levels.
Method: This study recruited adolescent female patients from pubertal and pediatric endocrine clinics in Northern and Southern Taiwan from the Taiwan Puberty Longitudinal Study. A total of 112 plasma samples (22 healthy control, 29 peripheral precocious puberty (PPP), and 61 CPP samples) were collected. We extracted lipids from the plasma samples using the modified Folch method. The un-targeted ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was employed for the lipid analysis.
Results: We identified sphingolipid-linked metabolites, including Cer(18:0/15:0), Cer(18:1/16:0), and Cer(18:1/26:0) as candidate biomarkers for distinguishing girls with CPP from the control group by using an excellent discrimination model (AUC = 0.964). Moreover, Cer(18:0/22:0) and Cer(d18:0/18:1) were identified as potential biomarkers of PPP, with an AUC value of 0.938. Furthermore, CerP(18:1/18:0) was identified as the sole candidate biomarker capable of differentiating CPP from PPP.
Conclusions: The biomarkers identified in this study can facilitate the accurate detection of CPP in girls, provide insights into lipid-linked pathophysiology, and present a novel method of monitoring the progression of this disorder.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Yang Ching Chen reports financial support was provided by Taipei Medical University. Yang Ching Chen reports a relationship with Taipei Medical University that includes: employment.
(Copyright © 2024 Asia Oceania Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)