The measurement of urinary gonadotropins for assessment and management of pubertal disorder

Lucaccioni, L., Mcneilly, J., Mason, A., Giacomozzi, C., Kyriakou, A., Shaikh, M. G., Iughetti, L. and Ahmed, S. F. (2016) The measurement of urinary gonadotropins for assessment and management of pubertal disorder. Hormones, 15(3), pp. 377-384. (doi: 10.14310/horm.2002.1690) (PMID:27838606)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Measurement of urinary LH (uLH) and FSH (uFSH) may facilitate non-invasive pubertal assessment but there is a need for further validation by studying children and adolescents with disorders of puberty. DESIGN: 65 cases (Male: 25) with a median age of 12 years (2.9-18.1) supplied at least one non-timed urine sample for uLH and uFSH measurement by immunoassay and corrected for creatinine excretion. 25 cases were receiving GnRH-agonist (GnRH-a) at the time of sample collection. In 41 cases, urine samples were collected prior to a LHRH test and in 12 cases matched serum samples for basal LH (sLH) and FSH (sFSH) were also available. RESULTS: There was a significant correlation between sLH and uLH:uCr (r=0.82; p-value <0.001) and sFSH and uFSH:uCr (r=0.93; p-value <0.001). Based on receiver operator characteristics analysis, a uLH:uCr value of 0.05 IU/mmol as a cut-off would detect a LH peak >5U I/L with a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 72% with a positive predictive value of 93%. In pubertal boys (6) and girls (22) with a sLH peak >5UI/L, median uLH:uCr was 0.27 IU/mmol (0.27-0.28) and 0.17 IU/mmol (0.09-0.43), respectively. The median uFSH:uCr was 0.51 IU/mmol (0.41-0.60) for boys and 1.1 IU/mmol (0.21-2.44) for girls. In the 25 cases on GnRH-a, the median uLH:uCr for boys and girls was 0.02 IU/mmol (0.01-0.02) and 0.02 IU/mmol (0.004-0.07), respectively, and the median uFSH:uCr was 0.07 IU/mmol (0.05-0.09) and 0.27 IU/mmol (0.09-0.54), respectively. CONCLUSION: Urinary gonadotrophins reflect serum gonadotrophin concentration and may represent a reliable non-invasive method of assessing pubertal progress.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Kyriakou, Dr Andreas and Mcneilly, Dr Jane and Mason, Dr Avril and Shaikh, Dr Mohammed Guftar and Ahmed, Professor Syed Faisal and Lucaccioni, Dr Laura
• Authors: Lucaccioni, L., Mcneilly, J., Mason, A., Giacomozzi, C., Kyriakou, A., Shaikh, M. G., Iughetti, L., and Ahmed, S. F.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing
• Journal Name: Hormones
• Publisher: Hellenic Endocrine Society
• ISSN: 1109-3099