FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 305:1546-1550 December 24, 1981 Number 26 Next

	Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

Abstract

The uncoupling of pituitary stimulation and response observed in adults during administration of the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue, D-Trp6-Pro9-NEt-LHRH (LHRHa) suggested that this drug might be useful in treating precocious puberty. We treated five girls with idiopathic precocious puberty (ages two to eight) for eight weeks with daily subcutaneous injections of LHRHa. The patients had Tanner II to IV pubertal development, advanced bone age, an estrogen effect on vaginal smear, measurable basal gonadotropin levels with pulsed nocturnal secretion, and a pubertal gonadotropin response to LHRH. Irregular vaginal bleeding was present in three patients. LHRHa significantly decreased basal (P less than 0.025) and LHRH-stimulated (P less than 0.01) gonadotropin levels as well as serum estradiol (P less than 0.05). The vaginal maturation-index score, which reflects the estrogen effect, fell by 25 per cent. Eight weeks after stopping treatment, all hormonal values and the vaginal maturation index had returned to pretreatment levels. These favorable short-term results will need further study before the benefits and risks of chronic treatment with LHRHa can be adequately assessed.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Carel, J.-C., Blumberg, J., Seymour, C., Adamsbaum, C., Lahlou, N., for the Triptorelin 3-month CPP Study Group, (2006). Three-month sustained-release triptorelin (11.25 mg) in the treatment of central precocious puberty. Eur J Endocrinol 154: 119-124 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tanaka, T., Niimi, H., Matsuo, N., Fujieda, K., Tachibana, K., Ohyama, K., Satoh, M., Kugu, K. (2005). Results of Long-Term Follow-Up after Treatment of Central Precocious Puberty with Leuprorelin Acetate: Evaluation of Effectiveness of Treatment and Recovery of Gonadal Function. The TAP-144-SR Japanese Study Group on Central Precocious Puberty. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 90: 1371-1376 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• (1999). Is Obesity an Outcome of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonist Administration? Analysis of Growth and Body Composition in 110 Patients with Central Precocious Puberty. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 84: 4480-4488 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Klein, K. O., Baron, J., Barnes, K. M., Pescovitz, O. H., Cutler, G. B. Jr. (1998). Use of an Ultrasensitive Recombinant Cell Bioassay to Determine Estrogen Levels in Girls with Precocious Puberty Treated with a Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone Agonist. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 83: 2387-2389 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Palmert, M. R., Radovick, S., Boepple, P. A. (1998). The Impact of Reversible Gonadal Sex Steroid Suppression on Serum Leptin Concentrations in Children with Central Precocious Puberty. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 83: 1091-1096 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Majzoub, J. A., Scully, R. E. (1993). Case 7-1993- A Six-Year-Old Boy with Multiple Bone Lesions, Repeated Fractures, and Sexual Precocity. NEJM 328: 496-502 [Full Text]