Oestrogen treatment for tall stature in girls: estimating the effect on height and the error in height prediction.

Objective: To determine the effect of oestrogen treatment on attenuating the growth of tall girls after adjusting for error in height prediction.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Patients: Tall girls assessed by Australian paediatric endocrinologists between 1959 and 1993.

Reduced voluntary activity precedes adult-onset obesity in Nhlh2 knockout mice.

Targeted deletion of the neuronal basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor Nhlh2 results in adult-onset obesity in mice. Measurement of body weight and body composition in animals aged 3-25 weeks indicates that while male and female Nhlh2 knockout (N2KO) animals both show adult-onset obesity, the time frame for development of obesity is different, with females becoming obese by 7 weeks of age and males becoming obese by 10 weeks of age. Heterozygous (HET) animals also become obese but with a slower onset, indicating a dosage effect for the activity of the Nhlh2 transcription factor.