ECEESPE2025 Poster Presentations Reproductive and Developmental Endocrinology (93 abstracts)
Reproductive hormones at 7-10 years of age in children born after assisted reproductive technology
Maria Linander Vestager 1,2 , Anna Sophie Lebech Kjær 1,2 , Louise Laub Asserhøj 2,3,4 , Ikram Mizrak 2,5 , Trine Holm Johannsen 3,4 , Hanne Frederiksen 3,4 , Anders Juul 3,4,6 , Tine Dalsgaard Clausen 6,7 , Eva Hoffmann 8 , Gorm Greisen 6,9 , Katharina Main 3,4,6 , Per Lav Madsen 5,6,10 , Anja Pinborg 2 & Rikke Beck Jensen 1
1Copenhagen University Hospital – Herlev Hospital, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Herlev, Denmark; 2Copenhagen University Hospital—Rigshospitalet, Centre JMC, The Fertility Clinic, Department of Gynecology, Fertility and Obstetrics, Copenhagen, Denmark; 3Copenhagen University Hospital—Rigshospitalet, Department of Growth and Reproduction, Copenhagen, Denmark; 4Copenhagen University Hospital—Rigshospitalet, International Centre for Research & Training in Disruption of Male Reproduction & Child Health (EDMaRC), Copenhagen, Denmark; 5Copenhagen University Hospital - Herlev and Gentofte, Department of Cardiology, Herlev, Denmark; 6University of Copenhagen, Department of Clinical Medicine, Copenhagen, Denmark; 7Copenhagen University Hospital—Rigshospitalet, Centre JMC, The Obstetric Clinic, Department of Gynecology, Fertility and Obstetrics, Copenhagen, Denmark; 8University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF) Centre for Chromosome Stability, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Copenhagen, Denmark; 9Copenhagen University Hospital—Rigshospitalet, Department of Neonatology, Copenhagen, Denmark; 10University of Copenhagen, The August Krogh Institute, NEXS, Copenhagen, Denmark
JOINT350
Background: The global rise in the use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) reflects the declining fertility rates. Investigation of the long-term health of children born after ART is therefore important. A former registry-based study found a higher risk for early puberty in girls and late puberty in boys conceived after ART.
Methods: Pubertal development and serum concentrations of reproductive hormones were evaluated in 606 singletons (292 boys) aged 7-10 years from the Health in Childhood following Assisted Reproductive Technology (HiCART) cohort. The HiCART cohort included children conceived after ART with frozen embryo transfer (FET) n= 200, fresh embryo transfer (Fresh-ET) n = 203 and natural conception (NC) n=203. Concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were measured by immunoassays, and concentrations of estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), androstenedione and 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).
Results: Mean age at examination was 8.53 years (0.55 standard deviation [SD]). BMI (SDS) did not differ significantly between the three groups. Stratification for sex revealed a significantly higher weight (SDS) (adjusted mean differences 0.35, 95% CI (0.03; 0.67)) and height (SDS) (0.43 (0.11; 0.76)) in the girls conceived after FET vs. NC. Among girls, clinical signs of puberty (Tanner ≥ B2) were found in 14% (16/107) in the FET-group, in 16% (15/98) in the fresh-ET-group and in 23% (23/98) in the NC-group, with no difference between the three groups (Chi-square P = 0.35). Clinical signs of puberty below the age of 8 years were found in 6/314 girls (median age 7.79 [range 7.46-7.87]), of whom three were in the FET-group and three in the NC-group. The concentration of LH was below 0.3 IU/l in all six girls, while four out of six girls had measurable estradiol. Among boys, clinical signs of puberty (testicular volume >3 ml) were absent in boys in the FET-group (0/86), while present in 2% (2/99) in the fresh-ET group and in 1% (1/101) in the NC-group. No significant difference was found in concentrations of hormones (LH, FSH, SHBG, E2, T, DHEAS, Androstenedione and 17-OHP) when comparing respectively girls and boys born after FET, Fresh-ET and NC, neither in the entire cohort nor after excluding pubertal children.
Conclusion: Pubertal development, reproductive hormones, and the prevalence of precocious puberty was not altered in the children conceived after ART. This is re-assuring on an individual and societal level as there is an increasing need for ART.
Volume 110
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Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
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