Growth hormone treatment accelerates the delayed onset of puberty in patients with GHD

The early use of growth hormone treatment appears to accelerate the delayed onset of puberty in patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), according to a study.

Researchers analyzed data from 83 boys and 51 girls who started growth hormone treatment sufficiently earlier than the onset of puberty. The average age at onset of puberty of patients with GHD was considered <10 years versus 11.7 years for boys and <9.5 years versus 11.4 years for girls.

There was a significantly positive correlation between the age at onset of puberty and the age at the start of treatment with GH (boys: r = 0.427, P < 0.0001; girls: r = 0.302, P < 0.05).

When divided based on gender and the age at which treatment was started (boys: <8 and 8 to <10 years; girls: <7 and 7 to <9.5 years), the age at the onset of puberty for boys and girls was significantly lower in the group that started treatment at <8 and <7 years, respectively. Height recorded at the onset of puberty did not appear to be affected by early treatment.

Reference
Tanaka T, Soneda S, Sato N, Kishi K, Noda M, Ogasawara A. Early growth hormone treatment accelerates delayed onset of puberty in patients with growth hormone deficiency. Endocr J. 2021;doi: 10.1507/endocrj.EJ21-0209. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34588397.