RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Nature Reviews Endocrinology 10, 379 (2014); published online 13 May 2014; doi:10.1038/nrendo.2014.72
THERAPY
Turner syndrome—estrogen therapy in childhood normalizes pubertal onset Low-dose estrogen replacement therapy started at a young age normalized timing of puberty onset in girls with Turner syndrome enrolled in a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial at two US centres. Children with Turner syndrome produce much less estrogen than girls without this syndrome. “Estrogen is generally viewed as an ‘adult hormone’, but childhood estrogen production is likely to have important roles in girls’ development,” say Charmian Quigley and the other authors of the study. The researchers investigated the outcomes of therapy with growth hormone in combination with estrogen given to 123 patients with Turner syndrome. Therapy was started at ages 5.0–12.5 years, with low doses of 25 ng/kg of ethinyl estradiol per day given to girls aged 5–8 years and escalated to higher doses as girls grew older. Some of the trial results have been previously published; in this part of the study the
researchers focused on the effects of estrogen therapy on puberty onset. Most girls treated with estrogen in childhood entered puberty within 1 year after their peers without Turner syndrome, whereas most girls who did not receive estrogen in childhood had a 2 year delay in puberty onset, summarize the researchers. “We hope that this information will stimulate physicians to rethink their long-standing misgivings about childhood estrogen treatment and offer affected patients the potential advantages of early replacement of this key hormone,” they conclude. Joana Osório Original article Quigley, C. A. et al. Effects of low-dose estrogen replacement during childhood on pubertal development and gonadotropin concentrations in patients with Turner syndrome: results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. doi:10.1210/jc.2013-4518
NATURE REVIEWS | ENDOCRINOLOGY
VOLUME 10 | JULY 2014 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved
THERAPY
Turner syndrome—estrogen therapy in childhood normalizes pubertal onset Low-dose estrogen replacement therapy started at a young age normalized timing of puberty onset in girls with Turner syndrome enrolled in a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial at two US centres. Children with Turner syndrome produce much less estrogen than girls without this syndrome. “Estrogen is generally viewed as an ‘adult hormone’, but childhood estrogen production is likely to have important roles in girls’ development,” say Charmian Quigley and the other authors of the study. The researchers investigated the outcomes of therapy with growth hormone in combination with estrogen given to 123 patients with Turner syndrome. Therapy was started at ages 5.0–12.5 years, with low doses of 25 ng/kg of ethinyl estradiol per day given to girls aged 5–8 years and escalated to higher doses as girls grew older. Some of the trial results have been previously published; in this part of the study the
researchers focused on the effects of estrogen therapy on puberty onset. Most girls treated with estrogen in childhood entered puberty within 1 year after their peers without Turner syndrome, whereas most girls who did not receive estrogen in childhood had a 2 year delay in puberty onset, summarize the researchers. “We hope that this information will stimulate physicians to rethink their long-standing misgivings about childhood estrogen treatment and offer affected patients the potential advantages of early replacement of this key hormone,” they conclude. Joana Osório Original article Quigley, C. A. et al. Effects of low-dose estrogen replacement during childhood on pubertal development and gonadotropin concentrations in patients with Turner syndrome: results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. doi:10.1210/jc.2013-4518
NATURE REVIEWS | ENDOCRINOLOGY
VOLUME 10 | JULY 2014 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved
