Modulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone pulse generator sensitivity to progesterone inhibition in hyperandrogenic adolescent girls--implications for regulation of pubertal maturation.

Context: Adult women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have decreased GnRH pulse generator sensitivity to progesterone (P)-mediated slowing. This defect is androgen mediated because it is reversed with androgen receptor blockade. Adolescent hyperandrogenism often precedes PCOS.

Maturation of luteinizing hormone (gonadotropin-releasing hormone) secretion across puberty: evidence for altered regulation in obese peripubertal girls.

Context: Peripubertal obesity (body mass index-for-age >or= 95%) in girls is associated with hyperandrogenemia. LH likely contributes to this relationship, but overnight LH secretion in obese girls is poorly characterized.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate LH pulse characteristics in obese girls throughout pubertal maturation.

Obesity and sex steroid changes across puberty: evidence for marked hyperandrogenemia in pre- and early pubertal obese girls.

Context: Peripubertal obesity is associated with abnormal sex steroid concentrations, but the timing of onset and degree of these abnormalities remain unclear.

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the degree of hyperandrogenemia across puberty in obese girls and assess overnight sex steroid changes in Tanner stage 1-3 girls.

Design: This was a cross-sectional analysis.

The association of obesity and hyperandrogenemia during the pubertal transition in girls: obesity as a potential factor in the genesis of postpubertal hyperandrogenism.

Context: Adolescent hyperandrogenemia is considered a forerunner of adult polycystic ovary syndrome, but its etiology remains uncertain.

Objective: Our objective was to explore the hypothesis that peripubertal obesity is associated with hyperandrogenemia.

Design And Setting: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of data obtained at General Clinical Research Centers.

Progesterone inhibition of the hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone pulse generator: evidence for varied effects in hyperandrogenemic adolescent girls.

Compared with normal women, adults with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) require higher progesterone (P) concentrations to inhibit GnRH (LH) pulse frequency, which contributes to persistently rapid GnRH pulses and elevated LH levels in PCOS. To explore the origin of this abnormality, we assessed hypothalamic sensitivity to P feedback in nine normal controls and 11 hyperandrogenemic (HA) adolescents. Subjects first underwent frequent blood sampling for 11 h to assess baseline LH pulse frequency.