Purpose: The effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) treatment on the energy metabolism in girls with central precocious puberty (CPP) are controversial. We focused the changes and related factors of serum levels of leptin and adiponectin in girls with CPP before and during GnRHa treatment.
Methods: Thirty girls with idiopathic CPP were enrolled in the study. Their auxological data and fasting blood were collected at the baseline and after six months of GnRHa treatment.
Results: After treatment, height (P<0.001), weight (P<0.001), and serum leptin levels (P=0.033) were significantly increased, whereas body mass index (BMI), homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance, serum adiponectin levels, and adiponectin/leptin ratio exhibited no significant changes. A Pearson correlation analysis showed that height, weight, BMI, and their standard deviation scores (SDSs), but not basal LH, FSH, and estradiol, were significantly correlated with serum leptin levels before and after GnRHa treatment. After a multiple linear regression analysis, only BMI was associated with serum leptin levels. Moreover, leptin SDSs adjusted for BMI were not significantly different before and after GnRHa. The Δ leptin levels (r2=0.207, P=0.012), but not with Δ leptin SDS (r2=0.019, P=0.556), during GnRHa treatment were positively correlated with Δ BMI.
Conclusion: These results suggest that GnRHa treatment in girls with CPP does not affect serum levels of leptin and adiponectin and insulin resistance. Serum leptin levels were depend on the changes in BMI during GnRHa treatment.
Keywords: Adiponectin; Body mass index; Gonadotropin releasing hormone; Leptin; Precocious puberty.