PEDIATRICS Vol. 72 No. 3 September 1983, pp. 384-389
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Hypergonadotropism in Peripubertal Boys with Chronic Renal Failure

Harold K. Marder MD1, Laxmi S. Srivastava PhD1, and Stephen Burstein MD, PhD1

1 From the Children's Hospital Research Foundation and Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati

Serum gonadotropin and testosterone concentrations were measured in ten peripubertal boys to assess the effects of uremia on pubertal maturation. Serum luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations were elevated for stage of puberty in eight boys, whereas in most boys serum follicle-stimulating hormone and testosterone concentrations were normal. Serum LH concentrations correlated with the severity of uremia. LH levels declined when measured 1 year after the initial measurements in four boys who received renal allografts, but were further elevated in two boys who were treated conservatively. Elevated serum LH concentrations in the presence of normal serum testosterone concentrations imply limited testicular sensitivity to the effects of LH in these peripubertal boys, as has been documented for adult men with chronic renal failure. Alternatively, there may be accumulation of an immunoreactive LH molecule that lacks bioactivity. A testicular dysfunction may explain the pubertal delay experienced by some uremic adolescent boys.

Key Words: uremia • delayed puberty • hypergonadotropic hypogonadism • luteinizing hormone

Submitted on August 23, 1982
Accepted on December 29, 1982