Pubertal induction therapy in pediatric patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Objectives: We conducted a scoping review and analyzed the medical literature on PubMed to assess any potential short-term and long-term benefits of pubertal induction in patients with DMD.

Content: We identified six articles from our research cumulatively reporting clinical data from 58 pediatric patients with DMD, of age between 12 and 17.7 years. All of them were on glucocorticoid therapy with variable duration and the longest follow-up of 11.7 years. In all patients, the induction protocol was successful (leading to appearance of secondary sexual characteristics); no secondary effects were reported by any analyzed studies. Three papers reported an objective improvement of patients' quality of life, while in four there was a benefit on the bone profile.

Summary: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive genetic disorder that affects approximately 1 in 5,000 live-born male children. Because of early and chronic exposure to glucocorticoids, used as standards of care, pubertal development may be variable. While some boys experience a normal pubertal growth spurt, others have testosterone levels below the normal range for age and require pubertal induction therapy to achieve an adequate testicular volume, development of secondary sexual characteristics, and peak bone mass. When and how to use pubertal induction therapy in pediatric patients with DMD is still object of controversy.

Outlook: The reported evidence of testosterone therapy in patients with DMD is still limited to small cohort sizes, which suggest efficacy and psychosocial benefits.