Changes in the Bile Acid Pool and Timing of Female Puberty: Potential Novel Role of Hypothalamic TGR5.

Context: The regulation of pubertal timing and reproductive axis maturation is influenced by a myriad of physiologic and environmental inputs yet remains incompletely understood.

Objective: To contrast differences in bile acid isoform profiles across defined stages of reproductive maturity in humans and a rat model of puberty and to characterize the role of bile acid signaling via hypothalamic expression of bile acid receptor populations in the rodent model.

Methods: Secondary analysis and pilot studies of clinical cohorts, rodent models, ex vivo analyses of rodent hypothalamic tissues. Bile acid concentrations is the main outcome measure.

Results: Lower circulatory conjugated:deconjugated bile acid concentrations and higher total secondary bile acids were observed in postmenarcheal vs pre-/early pubertal adolescents, with similar shifts observed in infantile (postnatal day [PN]14) vs early juvenile (PN21) rats alongside increased tgr5 receptor mRNA expression within the mediobasal hypothalamus of female rats. 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the rodent gut microbiome across postnatal life revealed changes in the gut microbial composition predicted to have bile salt hydrolase activity, which was observed in parallel with the increased deconjugated and increased concentrations of secondary bile acids. We show that TGR5-stimulated GnRH release from hypothalamic explants is mediated through kisspeptin receptors and that early overexpression of human-TGR5 within the arcuate nucleus accelerates pubertal onset in female rats.

Conclusion: Bile acid isoform shifts along stages of reproductive maturation are conserved across rodents and humans, with preclinical models providing mechanistic insight for the neuroendocrine-hepatic-gut microbiome axis as a potential moderator of pubertal timing in females.