Robert M. Boyar

Robert M. Boyar

Robert M. Boyar
Born March 10, 1937
New York
Died November 27, 1978(1978-11-27) (aged 41)
Dallas, Texas
Nationality US
Occupation physician, endocrinologist
Known for neuroendocrine studies of puberty

Robert Martin Boyar (March 10, 1937, New York – November 27, 1978, Dallas, Texas) was a physician and endocrinologist known for his studies of the neuroendocrinology of puberty.

Early years and education

Boyar received his MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, 1962. He was a Navy physician during the Vietnam War, and on the medical staff of Montefiore Medical Center. For 2½ years he was Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas.

Scientific discoveries

Boyar is best known for his studies of gonadotropin secretion in puberty. An American physiologist, Ernst Knobil, discovered that the anterior pituitary produces pulses of Luteinizing hormone (LH) at about hourly intervals. The LH pulses are the consequence of pulsatile gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion by the hypothalamus into the pituitary portal circulation that, in turn, is the result of an oscillator or signal generator in the central nervous system ("GnRH pulse generator").[1] Boyar demonstrated that in children approaching puberty the Luteinizing Hormone pulses occur only during sleep.[2] This sleep related gonadotropin secretion initiates testosterone secretion in boys and estradiol secretion in girls, which ultimately result in the clinical characteristics associated with human puberty.[3] Some investigators have attributed the onset of puberty to a resonance of oscillators in the brain.[4][5][6][7] By this mechanism, the gonadotropin pulses that occur during sleep in puberty represent beats.[8][9]

References

  1. Neill, JD (2001). "In memoriam: Ernst Knobil (1926-2000).". Endocrine Reviews. 22 (6): 721–3. doi:10.1210/er.22.6.721. PMID 11739328.
  2. Boyar, R; Finkelstein, J; Roffwarg, H; Kapen, S; Weitzman, E; Hellman, L (1972). "Synchronization of augmented luteinizing hormone secretion with sleep during puberty.". The New England Journal of Medicine. 287 (12): 582–6. doi:10.1056/NEJM197209212871203. PMID 4341276.
  3. Boyar, RM; Rosenfeld, RS; Kapen, S; Finkelstein, JW; Roffwarg, HP; Weitzman, ED; Hellman, L (1974). "Human Puberty SIMULTANEOUS AUGMENTED SECRETION OF LUTEINIZING HORMONE AND TESTOSTERONE DURING SLEEP". The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 54 (3): 609–18. doi:10.1172/JCI107798. PMC 301594Freely accessible. PMID 4852310.
  4. Sizonenko, PC; Aubert, ML (1986). "Neuroendocrine changes characteristic of sexual maturation". Journal of neural transmission. Supplementum. 21: 159–81. PMID 3462329.
  5. Rivest, RW (1991). "Sexual maturation in female rats: hereditary, developmental and environmental aspects". Experientia. 47 (10): 1027–38. doi:10.1007/bf01923338. PMID 1936201.
  6. Yellon, SM; Newman, SW (1991). "A developmental study of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone neuronal system during sexual maturation in the male Djungarian hamster". Biology of Reproduction. 45 (3): 440–6. doi:10.1095/biolreprod45.3.440. PMID 1782292.
  7. Armstrong, SM; Redman, JR (1991). "Melatonin: a chronobiotic with anti-aging properties?". Medical Hypotheses. 34 (4): 300–9. doi:10.1016/0306-9877(91)90046-2. PMID 1865836.
  8. Lehrer, S (1983). "Puberty and resonance: a hypothesis" (PDF). The Mount Sinai journal of medicine, New York. 50 (1): 39–43. PMID 6601758.
  9. Lehrer, S (1986). "Rats on 22.5-hr light:dark cycles have vaginal opening earlier than rats on 26-hr light:dark cycles". Journal of Pineal Research. 3 (4): 375–8. doi:10.1111/j.1600-079X.1986.tb00759.x. PMID 3783418.

Bibliography

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