Abstract
We have described a biphasic dose-response curve for ethinyl estradiol (EE2) on short term growth in patients with Turner's syndrome. To investigate whether there is a similar phenomenon in boys, we evaluated the 3-week ulnar growth velocity (TUG) following the administration of different doses of EE2 to boys with delayed adolescence. Basal TUG was determined in 5 pre-pubertal or early pubertal boys (Tanner stages I-II), ages 13 to 15 years. Subsequently, the boys received a 4-day i.v. infusion of EE2 at each of 3 doses, 4, 20 and 90 μg/day, given double blind in a randomized sequence. The TUG was determined before and after each infusion, and was allowed to return to baseline before giving the second and third infusions. Results (mean ± SE) are shown in the Table.
We observed an inverse relationship between EE2 dose and the increase in TUG. Mean TUG increased following all EE2 infusions, but was significantly higher after the 4 μg/day EE2 infusion. In contrast, somatomedin-C levels were significantly higher after the 20 and 90 μg/day EE2 infusions. We conclude that small amounts of estrogen can stimulate ulnar growth in boys and may play a role in the male pubertal growth spurt.
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Nicoletti, M., Cassorla, F., Skerda, M. et al. 476 LOW DOSE ESTRADIOL ACCELERATES ULNAR GROWTH IN BOYS. Pediatr Res 19, 190 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-00506
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-00506