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. 2025 Aug 26;25(1):655.
doi: 10.1186/s12887-025-06076-8.

Therapeutic outcomes of GnRHa and rhGH in idiopathic central precocious puberty: a focus on psychological and behavioral improvements

Jiao Chen  1 , Lihong Cao  1 , Xiaosa Chen  1 , Xinjuan Zhou  1 , Qingqing Yu  2 , Wenqian Yang  3 , Hong Chen  4   5
Affiliations

Therapeutic outcomes of GnRHa and rhGH in idiopathic central precocious puberty: a focus on psychological and behavioral improvements

Jiao Chen et al. BMC Pediatr. .

Abstract

Objective: The psychological issues associated with idiopathic central precocious puberty (ICPP) in girls remain a contentious topic, particularly regarding the necessity and effectiveness of psychological interventions and pharmacological treatments such as gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog (GnRHa) or GnRHa combined with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH).

Methods: This study aimed to assess the psychological profiles of 95 ICPP girls and their parents, comparing them with 70 healthy controls, and to investigate the potential therapeutic effects of pharmacological interventions. For parents, psychological evaluations were conducted using the Child Behavior Checklist, State Anxiety Inventory, and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Whereas for ICPP and control girls, the Children's Depression Inventory and Social Anxiety Scale for Children were administered.

Results: Results indicated significant psychological challenges for ICPP girls, including issues with social competence, social withdrawal, defaulters, cruelty, depressive moods, and social anxiety. Correspondingly, their parents exhibited elevated anxiety levels. After 12 months of treatment, the GnRHa group demonstrated notable improvements in aggression, depressive moods, and social anxiety. Meanwhile, improvements were also observed in defaulter behaviors and depressive moods among the GnRHa plus rhGH treated group. Additionally, parental anxiety scores significantly decreased across both treatment groups.

Conclusion: ICPP girls face a spectrum of psychological difficulties, with their parents also experiencing notable anxiety. Both GnRHa and GnRHa combined with rhGH treatments can reduce parental anxiety and improve the psychological and behavioral problems of ICPP girls. This highlights the importance of addressing psychological health within medical treatment plans for ICPP.

Keywords: Anxiety; Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog; Idiopathic central precocious puberty; Psycho-behavioral problems; Recombinant human growth hormone; Treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Research involving human participants: This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from the patients for publication of the case reports. Ethical approval: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of First People’s Hospital of Lin’an District (approval number 2021-38). All participants provided informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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