Abstract
An interrelationship has been suggested between SM, growth rate, and sex steroid levels in normal puberty. We measured serum acid-ethanol extractable SM by RIA in 7 boys and 12 girls with central precocious puberty before and at 1 week (W), 2W, 6W, 12W, and then every 3 months (M) after starting treatment with 4 μg/kg daily SQ injections of the LRF-A, D-TRP6-PRO9-NET LRF, supplied by Drs. Wylie Vale and Jean Rivier. Gonadotropin and sex steroid levels at baseline and in response to an IV bolus of LRF were measured and correlated with changes in SM. Median ΔLH at 0, 1W, and 2W was 2.4, 0.6, and 0.7 ng/ml, respectively, in boys, and 7.9, 0.9, and 0.5 ng/ml in girls. Median testosterone (T) was 366, 403, 53, and 34 ng/dl in boys, and median estradiol (E2) was 61, 62, <5, and <5 pg/ml in girls at 0, 1W, 2W, and 6W respectively. The ΔLH, T, and E2 values remained prepubertal thereafter. SM was correlated with height velocity (p<.005) at 0, 6M, and 12M of therapy. SM rose from a pretreatment mean of 1.99±.17 (SEM) units/ml to 2.19±.16 u/ml at 1W (p=.1, Wilcoxon) and fell significantly to 1.6±.17 u/ml (p<.05) at 6M. Significant correlations were found between SM and E2 (p=.005) and T (p<.001). In 3 patients who had therapy with LRF-A discontinued, SM levels rose to pre-treatment values and decreased when therapy was restarted. The reversible suppression of T, E2, and SM by LRF-A treatment supports the assertion that SM is dependent on T and E2 levels in precocious puberty.
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Harris, D., Styne, D., Vliet, G. et al. SOMATOMEDIN-C (SM) LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH TRUE PRECOCIOUS PUBERTY: EFFECT OF TREATMENT WITH A POTENT LRF-AGONIST (LRF-A). Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 168 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00453
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00453
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