Quantification of urinary gonadotropins by specific assays may improve the evaluation of sex-specific hormonal changes in early infancy.
Clin Endocrinol (Oxf)
; 101(2): 114-120, 2024 Aug.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38664930
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of different gonadotropin assays for determining total and intact luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) immunoreactivity in urine (U-LH-ir and U-FSH-ir, respectively) during early infancy. DESIGN, PATIENTS AND MEASUREMENTS Morning urine samples were obtained from 31 infants, aged between 0 and 6 months, to study the age-related course of urinary gonadotropins. Additionally, we investigated bi-hourly urine samples of a 5-day-old male neonate for 24 h to observe the course of urinary gonadotropins during a daily cycle. We employed different immunofluorometric assays for measuring total and intact U-LH-ir, and U-FSH-ir.RESULTS:
In neonates up to 21 days of age, the U-LH-ir levels measured by the regular LH assay (also detecting hCG) were significantly higher than those determined by the total (specific) LH assays (p = .004). U-FSH-ir was higher in girls than boys during both the first and the next 5 months (p = .02 and p < .001, respectively), whereas total U-LH-ir was higher in boys until 6 months of age (p < .001). Total U-LH-ir/U-FSH-ir ratio was significantly higher in boys than girls across the first half-year (p < .001).CONCLUSIONS:
The assessment of total U-LH-ir and U-FSH-ir, and their respective ratio constitutes a noninvasive, practical and scalable tool to investigate sex-specific changes during early infancy, with the ratio being significantly higher in boys than girls. Only highly specific LH assays detecting beta-subunit and its core fragment in addition to intact LH should be used for determining U-LH-ir in the neonatal period to avoid potential cross-reactivity with hCG of placental origin.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Hormona Luteinizante
/
Hormona Folículo Estimulante
Límite:
Female
/
Humans
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Infant
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Male
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Newborn
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Clin Endocrinol (Oxf)
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Finlandia