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Endocrine Abstracts (2014) 34 P305 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.34.P305

1Imperial College, London, UK; 2Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK.


Background: The peptide hormone kisspeptin is essential for human reproduction, acting on the hypothalamus to stimulate GnRH secretion. Kisspeptin is emerging as a possible novel therapeutic for women with infertility. However animal studies suggest that kisspeptin may also stimulate pituitary secretion of GH, prolactin, and TSH, which has important implications for its safety. There has been no previous study investigating kisspeptin effects on non-reproductive hormones in humans.

Aim: To determine whether kisspeptin-54 modulates GH, prolactin, and TSH secretion in healthy women.

Study: This was a prospective, single-blinded placebo-controlled one-way cross-over study. Five healthy women received twice daily s.c. injections of vehicle (saline) from day 7 of their menstrual cycle (follicular phase) for 7 days in month 1 of the study. This was followed in month 2 by twice daily s.c. injections of kisspeptin-54 (6.4 nmol/kg) from days 7 to 14 of their menstrual cycle. Serum samples were analysed post-hoc for GH, prolactin, and TSH.

Results: Mean serum GH, PRL, and TSH did not change during the first 4 h following kisspeptin-54 injection when compared with vehicle. The mean frequency or amplitude of GH pulses (which influence GH function) did not change acutely following kisspeptin-54 injection when compared with vehicle. No chronic changes in serum GH, PRL, or TSH were observed over the 7 day period of twice-daily kisspeptin-54 injections when compared with vehicle.

Conclusion: We report that kisspeptin-54 does not acutely or chronically stimulate GH, prolactin, or TSH secretion in healthy women, at a dose which potently stimulates gonadotrophin release. This has important implications for the development of kisspeptin as a potential therapeutic for patients with infertility.

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