Letrozole combined with rhGH treatment increases the adult height of short pubertal boys

Mingming He; Yanhong Zhang; Qianqian Zhao; Dongye He; Yanying Li; Mei Zhang; Bo Ban

doi:10.1515/jpem-2023-0459

Article

Letrozole combined with rhGH treatment increases the adult height of short pubertal boys

Mingming He , Yanhong Zhang , Qianqian Zhao , Dongye He , Yanying Li , Mei Zhang and Bo Ban

Published/Copyright: November 30, 2023

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From the journal Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Volume 37 Issue 1

Abstract

Objectives

This study was performed to investigate the effectiveness of the combination of letrozole and recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) to improve the predicted adult height (PAH) and final adult height (FAH) of Chinese short pubertal boys.

Methods

In total, 171 Chinese short pubertal boys were recruited for this study. 96 of them received letrozole (2.5 mg/d) combined with rhGH (33.3–66.6 μg/kg.d), and the others received rhGH alone. Follow-up visits were conducted at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months or regularly after the first treatment. During each visit, plasma samples were collected for clinical tests and biomedical analyses, all of which were performed according to standard protocols. This study was registered at www.chictr.org.cn under ID number ChiCTR1900026142.

Results

After receiving treatment for at least 3 months, 68 boys (91 %) in the rhGH therapy group and 90 (94 %) in the letrozole combined with rhGH (letrozole+rhGH) therapy group achieved an increase in PAH, with the latter treatment leading to a more effective slowing of bone age (BA) advancement. Moreover, the increased PAH showed a significant positive correlation with treatment time in both groups, and letrozole+rhGH increased the PAH to a greater degree than rhGH alone (p=0.0023). And letrozole+rhGH not only slowed the increase in BA more efficiently than rhGH therapy alone (p=0.0025), but also achieved a higher FAH (p=0.0078).

Conclusions

Letrozole combined with rhGH treatment is a promising therapy to increase the PAH and FAH of Chinese short pubertal boys.

Keywords: letrozole; predicted adult height; final adult height; Chinese short pubertal boys; rhGH

Corresponding author: Bo Ban, Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining Medical University, 89 Guhuai Road 272029, Jining, Shandong, P.R. China, and Chinese Research Center for Behavior Medicine in Growth and Development, 89 Guhuai Road 272029, Jining, Shandong, P.R. China, and National Human Genetic Resources Sharing Service Platform, Jining, Shandong, P.R. China, Phone: +86 0537 2903007, Fax: +86 0537 2903007, E-mail: banbo2011@163.com

Funding source: Jining Science and Technology Bureau

Award Identifier / Grant number: 2017SMNS007

Acknowledgments

We want to thank Jining Science and Technology Bureau for grant support.

Research ethics: This study was conducted according to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki. All experiments were performed under the approval issued by the Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University (NO. 2019JYFY-009), and registered at www.chictr.org.cn (ID number ChiCTR1900026142 on 23/09/2019). And, all methods and all experimental protocols were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals or their legal guardian(s) included in this study.
Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission. The project was designed by M.H., Y.Z. and B.B. Material preparation, data collection, and analyses were performed by M.H., Y.Z., Q.Z., D.H., Y.L., and M.Z. The manuscript was written by M.H. and B.B.
Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
Research funding: This study was supported by the Jining Science and Technology Bureau (No. 2017SMNS007).
Data availability: The data and materials used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Received: 2023-10-14

Accepted: 2023-11-13

Published Online: 2023-11-30

Published in Print: 2024-01-29

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2023-0459

Keywords for this article

letrozole; predicted adult height; final adult height; Chinese short pubertal boys; rhGH