Endocrine Abstracts

Testosterone (T) can induce SSC in young HH men. So far the T ester formulations have been used for inducing puberty in these patients. Moreover, it seems that the polymorphism CAG length of androgen receptor (AR-CAG) might co-regulate the effectiveness of testosterone therapy (Tth).

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Nebid (1000 mg) for SSC induction in HH men and, secondly, whether these changes might be modulated by the AR-CAG.

Nine HH male (aged>17), in particular, 6/9 suffered from idiopathic HH while 3/9 were affected by b-thalassemia were enrolled in our study. All patients underwent a determination of serum SHBG, total T, free T (FT) and the AR-CAG. For treatment, HH men received an oral testosterone undecanoate (Andriol, 120 mg/day) for 3 months, followed by Nebid every 14 weeks for 1 year, then every 12 weeks for a second year. Serum T and FT were assayed 3 months after the start of Andriol and also in the 10th week following the start of the second round of Nebid. Levels were also determined 12, 18, and 24 months after the start of Nebid.

Circulating T and FT increased in all HH men which allowed them to develop SSC progressively. Moreover, a slight delay in puberty development was observed in those patients with >24 AR-CAG compared with those with <24 AR-CAG, suggesting that AR-CAG might co-regulate the effectiveness of Tth.

Nebid was able to induce the puberty in our HH patients, although additional studies are needed to elucidate the possible role of AR-CAG for SSC development in HH men.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector