Endocrine Abstracts

Puberty, a crucial biological process, ends up in sexual maturation, reproductive capability and adult body size. It is controlled by hypothalamo–pituitary–gonadal axis (HPG), where hypothalamus synthesizes and secretes gonadotropin releasing hormone, which stimulates the adenohypophysis to produce follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). FSH causes formation of sperms and LH stimulates production of testosterone (T). Puberty needs an intact HPG axis and any interruption in this axis may result in short-term or long lasting dysfunction of reproductive axis. Delayed puberty in boys is typically described by the deficiency of masculinization and reduced volume of testes (< 4 ml) in combination with absent or low sperm count until 14 years of age. The current investigation determined anthropometric parameters (height, weight, BMI), bone age, sexual maturation rating (SMR) and plasma levels of FSH, LH and T through respective ELISA systems in 37 sporadic cases of male delayed puberty and 55 age matched controls of 14 to 23 years of age visiting Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad and Military Hospital, Rawalpindi. SMR was assessed by measuring penile length, testicular volume, pubic hair and facial hair stage. Interpretation of results was carried out by employing Student’s t-test and ANOVA. The results revealed that the height of delayed puberty patients was lower than controls between 14 and 23 years of age, whereas weight of delayed puberty patients was slightly higher as compared to controls. Most of delayed puberty patients were in over-weight category of BMI. Bone age of most of delayed puberty patients was also delayed than chronological age. SMR of delayed puberty patients indicated that all patients had significantly lower penile length, testicular volume, pubic hair stage and facial hair stage than controls. The hormonal analysis displayed significantly decreased plasma FSH, LH and T levels in patients with pubertal delay as compared to controls. In conclusion, our investigation demonstrates a slight difference in anthropometric parameters of controls and delayed puberty patients during later stages of puberty while sexual maturation rating and hormonal parameters were significantly decreased in delayed puberty patients as compared to controls throughout the pubertal period.