Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2009) 23 P23

BSPED2009 Poster Presentations (1) (38 abstracts)

The Androgen Status Of Young Women With Premature Ovarian Failure Depends On The Female Sex Steroid Replacement Regimen

A Mason 1 , M A Wallace 2 , H MacIntyre 2 , P Y Teoh 2 , L E Bath 3 , H O Critchley 4 , C J H Kelnar 3 , H W B Wallace 3 & S F Ahmed 1


1Bone and Endocrine Research Group, RHSC Glasgow., Glasgow, UK; 2Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, UK; 3Department of Child Health, RHSC Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; 4Deparment of Reproductive and Developmental Sciences, Centre for Reproductive Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.


Aims: To compare the effect of a standard Sex Steroid Regimen (sSSR) with a physiological SSR (pSSR) on androgen status in young women with premature ovarian failure (POF).

Patient Population: Seven women with POF were evaluated for the study. The median age was 28 years (range 21–36) and the median duration of ovarian failure was 14 years (range 4–25).

Methods: An open label randomised, controlled, crossover study over 28 months comparing the effect of sSSR and pSSR on androgen status. Treatment consisted of a 12 month period of 4-week cycles of pSSR (transdermal estradiol 100 mcg daily for week 1 and 150 mcg for weeks 2–4 and either 200 mg progesterone vaginal pessaries or progesterone 10 mg orally twice daily in weeks 3–4), or sSSR (Loestrin 30, Galen Ltd; ethinylestradiol 30 mcg and norethisterone 1.5 mg daily for weeks 1–3, followed by 7 pill-free days), separated by run-in and wash-out periods. Serum Testosterone (T), Androstenedione (A4), SHBG were measured and the Free Andogen Index (FAI={serum T/SHBG} × 100) calculated at months 0/6/12.

Results: At baseline in the sSSR group, median T, A4 and SHBG were not significantly different from those in the pSSR group. Median T at 6 and 12 months were 1.1 and 1 nmol/l (sSSR) and 1.6 and 1.8 nmol/l (pSSR). Median A4 at 6 and 12 months were 5.6 and 4.7 nmol/l (sSSR) and 5.5 and 6.4 nmol/l (pSSR). Median SHBG at 6 and 12 months were 105 and 110 nmol/l (sSSR) and 62 and 66 nmol/l (pSSR). Median SHBG was significantly higher in the sSSR group at 6 and 12 months (P<0.02). Median FAI fell in the sSSR group from 2.4(2.2;7.4) at 0 months to 0.7(0.5;3.1) at 12 months (P=0.02); this fall was not seen in the pSSR arm.

Conclusion: pSSR, not associated with any further decline in free androgen levels, is an attractive treatment for long-term replacement in young women with POF.

Volume 23

37th Meeting of the British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes

British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes 

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