Absence of pubertal gonadotropin secretion in girls with McCune-Albright syndrome

Abstract

Precocious puberty in girls with McCune-Albright syndrome has been attributed in some cases to early activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and in other cases to sex steroid secretion by apparently autonomous ovarian cysts. We evaluated serum gonadotropins and sex steroids in six girls (aged 1-9 yr) with McCune-Albright syndrome. The children had Tanner stage II-IV pubertal development. In five patients, nocturnal gonadotropin concentrations and the gonadotropin response to LHRH were within the normal range for prepubertal children. Thus, the precocious puberty in these patients could not be explained by activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. One child had high amplitude nocturnal pulses of serum LH and a LH-predominant response to LHRH. She was the oldest of the six girls and had a bone age of 13.5 yr which is within the range in which hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian activation normally occurs. The children all had ovarian enlargement and ovarian cysts determined by ultrasound. It appears that precocious puberty in McCune-Albright syndrome may result from ovarian estrogen secretion in the absence of normal pubertal activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis.