ESPE Abstracts

Background: Central precocious puberty (CPP) manifests through the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis before the age of 8 in girls and is increasing worldwide, but its causes and prevention methods remain mostly unclear. Premature thelarche (PT) is a benign condition but needs to be differentiated from CPP.

Objective: To investigate the microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in CPP and distinguish it from PT to improve prevention and early diagnosis.

Methods: A total of 27 girls were included: 11 with CPP, 8 with PT, and 8 normal controls. Serum exosomal miRNA was analyzed using next-generation sequencing. Differential miRNA expression analysis between groups was conducted.

Results: Clustering and principal component analyses of miRNA expression profiles revealed distinct separations among the Control, CPP, and PT groups, indicating significant differences. Three miRNAs (hsa-miR-29c-3p, hsa-miR-106a-5p, and hsa-miR-342-5p) were significantly downregulated in the CPP group compared to the control group. In the PT group, 48 miRNAs were upregulated and 38 were downregulated compared to the control group, while 52 miRNAs were upregulated and 28 were downregulated compared to the CPP group.

Conclusion: There were significant differences in miRNA expression profiles among the CPP, PT, and control groups. miRNAs are potential biomarkers for diagnosing and understanding CPP and PT.