Melissa A Houghton, Christopher R McCartney, Su Hee Kim, James T Patrie, John C Marshall, Christine M Burt Solorzano
Journal of the Endocrine Society, Volume 9, Issue 12, December 2025, bvaf154
https://doi.org/10.1210/jendso/bvaf154
Sources of androgen overproduction in peripubertal girls with overweight/obesity (excess weight [EW]) remain unclear.
To assess 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) responses to recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin (r-hCG) in peripubertal girls with and without EW. We hypothesized that 17-OHP responses are exaggerated in late pubertal girls with EW compared to those without EW, but similar in early pubertal girls with and without EW.
This cross-sectional study conducted at an academic clinical research unit included 45 girls ages 7 to 18 years: 6 early pubertal (Tanner 1–3) with EW and 8 without; 20 late pubertal (Tanner 4–5) with EW and 11 without. Research volunteers took oral dexamethasone (1 mg) at 22:00 hours on study days 1 and 2. On study day 2, volunteers had blood withdrawal at 08:00 hours and r-hCG administration (25 mcg intravenously) at 09:00 hours, with repeat blood withdrawal at 09:00 hours on study day 3; the 17-OHP increment was analyzed.
17-OHP responsiveness was 2.31-fold (95% CI, 1.13–4.73) greater in early pubertal girls with EW compared to those without (Bonferroni-corrected P = .023), while responses were similar between late pubertal girls with and without EW. 17-OHP responsiveness in late pubertal girls with EW were 59% (95% CI, 9%–81%) lower than early pubertal girls with EW (Bonferroni-corrected P = .027), while responses were similar between late and early pubertal girls without EW.
Ovarian responsiveness to r-hCG stimulation during early puberty may be exaggerated in the setting of EW, but excess-weight status per se may not promote long-term ovarian hyperresponsiveness to r-hCG.
We provide our journal authors with a variety of resources for increasing the discoverability and citation of their published work. Use these tools and tips to broaden the impact of your article.
Read our special collections of Endocrine Society journal articles, curated by topic, Altmetric Attention Scores, and Featured Article designations.
