Anthropometry and body composition do not predict bioavailable androgen or progesterone concentration in adolescent girls

Our objective was to test the hypothesis that anthropometry and body composition were independently associated with sex-steroid concentration in adolescent girls. Premenarcheal (age, mean +/- SD = 10.9 +/- 0.6, N = 51), perimenarcheal (age = 13.7 +/- 0.6, N = 74), and postmenarcheal (age = 16.7 +/- 0.6, N = 44) cohorts provided saliva at morning recess during the schoolday over 6 weeks. Estradiol, testosterone, progesterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) were quantified. Age, developmental cohort, self-reported Tanner stage of breast development and pubic-hair distribution, gynecological age, height, weight, waist/hip ratio, and percent body fat (by impedance) were assessed. Repeated measures were reduced to a mean. Data were hierarchically standardized for sexual maturation status, and then used to predict anthropometry/percent body fat. After intensive repeated sampling, individuals still varied widely in testosterone, progesterone, and DHEA concentrations within a developmental cohort (35.0 <= coefficient of variation <= 66.5%). Individual hormone concentration was repeatable across 2 years (0.51 <= r(2) <= 0.73). In spite of the variability within a cohort, there was no evidence for an association between the standardized hormone and body mass index, percent body fat, or waist/hip ratio, whether or not measures were age-adjusted (21 univariate tests; 0.19 < P <= 0.96). Stratification by developmental cohort also did not reveal associations. Low estradiol assay precision precluded analyses. In conclusion, despite considerable population variation in hormone concentration after repeated sampling, no evidence supported an association between anthropometry or pecent body fat and testosterone, progesterone, or DHEA in adolescent girls.