Question:

Which of the following is NOT an estrogen-dependent pubertal change?

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One of these is driven by androgens, not estrogen.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
  • Hair growth
  • Menstruation
  • Vaginal cornification
  • Cervical mucus
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: The question asks which change is NOT driven by estrogen.
Step 2: Estrogen is responsible for menstruation (it builds the proliferative endometrium), vaginal cornification of the squamous epithelium, and the watery, stretchable cervical mucus seen mid-cycle. All three are estrogen-dependent.
Step 3: The development of axillary and pubic hair (pubarche) is driven by adrenal and gonadal androgens (testosterone, DHEA), not by estrogen. This is the odd one out.
Step 4: So hair growth is the answer to a NOT-estrogen-dependent question. Note that the printed recall key lists menstruation, but physiologically menstruation IS estrogen-dependent while pubic and axillary hair growth is androgen-driven, so the medically correct odd-one-out is hair growth.
Ref: Rhoades and Tanner's Medical Physiology, 2nd ed, p. 680.
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