scholarly journals Fertility recovery in patients with non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia caused by 21-hydroxylase deficiency

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-84
Author(s):  
Elena L. Soboleva ◽  
Natalia S. Osinovskaya ◽  
Natalia N. Tkachenko ◽  
Vladislav S. Baranov ◽  
Marina A. Tarasova

Background. Very little research has been devoted to the studying fertility problem in nonclassical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (NCAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency. It is difficult to draw definitive conclusions regarding the need for glucocorticoid therapy in NCAH women based on limited data. Therefore, evaluating fertility in patients with NCAH and exploring the possibility of correcting its disturbances seemed to us to be a matter of importance. Aims — to evaluate the reproductive function of patients with NCAH and explore potential treatments for this disorder. Materials and methods. The study group included 60 patients with NCAH aged between 18 and 33 years old. NCAH was diagnosed based on early-morning serum 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) levels above 30 nmol/l or 17-hydroxyprogesterone levels after ACTH stimulation above 26 nmol/l and/or characterized by molecular analysis of the CYP21A2 gene. Ultrasonography of the uterus and ovaries were performed in the cycle’s follicular phase. Total testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), Androstenedione, 17-OHP and Progesterone was measured. Results. Overall, the patients complained of menstrual cycle disorders (60%), infertility — (28%), hirsutism — (63%). Prior to being diagnosed with NCAH, Thirty-four women sought care because of infertility or recurrent miscarriages. Seventeen women (50%) had miscarriages; later on, five of them developed secondary infertility. Two patients became pregnant without treatment being already diagnosed and progressed to delivery. Once the diagnosis of NCAH was made, 58 women started receiving glucocorticoid therapy, Thirty nine (67%) women became pregnant while on glucocorticoid therapy. Thus glucocorticoid therapy reduced the miscarriage rate from 50 to 10.3%; р<0.001. There was no difference in the miscarriage rate between patients who received or quit glucocorticoid therapy during pregnancy. Conclusions. Glucocorticoid therapy is a highly efficacious method of fertility restoration in NCAH patients. Use of glucocorticoids during pregnancy planning significantly reduced the miscarriage rate. No difference in pregnancy outcome between the patients who received glucocorticoid therapy during pregnancy as opposed to those who did not indicates the advisability of treatment discontinuation once pregnancy is determined.

Author(s):  
B A El-Gamal ◽  
S A Eremin ◽  
D S Smith ◽  
J Landon

A direct, rapid and highly specific fluoroimmunoassay for determining serum levels of 17-hydroxyprogesterone has been developed. It is based on the use of a sheep antiserum covalently coupled to magnetisable particles and fluorescein-labelled steroid. Sodium salicylate is employed to eliminate interference from endogenous binding proteins in serum. The sensitivity of 0·5 nmol/L is adequate for clinical purposes. Analytical recovery, linearity and precision are satisfactory and the results obtained correlate closely with those of an established radioimmunoassay using 3H-labelled steroid and the same antiserum after initial sample extraction and chromatography. The values found for serum from normal adult subjects ranged from 1·0 to 12·6 nmol/L while those from treated and untreated patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency were 1·5 to 190 and 28·0 to 655 nmol/L, respectively.


1979 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gourmelen ◽  
M. T. Pham-Huu-Trung ◽  
M. G. Bredon ◽  
F. Girard

ABSTRACT The variations in plasma cortisol, testosterone and 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) induced by an im injection of 0.25 mg cosyntrophin were studied in three groups of subjects: 16 healthy women, 16 hirsute women (HW) and 10 mild cases of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). The basal values of cortisol and testosterone were comparable between the three groups. In the patients with mild CAH, the mean 17-OHP concentration was increased: 483.9 ng/100 ml (113-1200 ng), but it should be noted that the individual values could overlap with the normal concentrations found in the controls and the HW during the luteal phase of the cycle. One hour after the injection of cosyntropin, a massive response of 17-OHP was observed in the mild cases of CAH, the mean basal concentration was multiplied by ten: 4843 ng/100 ml. The minimum concentration reached was 1740 ng/100 ml which is still 3-fold the highest level seen either in normal women (400 ng/ml) or in hirsute women (550 ng/100 ml). Determination of 17-OHP following a short-term ACTH stimulation, therefore provides evidence of partial 21-hydroxylase deficiency.


Author(s):  
Berta Carvalho ◽  
C.Joana Marques ◽  
Rita Santos-Silva ◽  
Manuel Fontoura ◽  
Davide Carvalho ◽  
...  

AbstractCongenital Adrenal Hyperplasia is a group of genetic autosomal recessive disorders that affects adrenal steroidogenesis in the adrenal cortex. One of the most common defects associated with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia is the deficiency of 21-hydroxylase enzyme, responsible for the conversion of 17-hydroxyprogesterone to 11-deoxycortisol and progesterone to deoxycorticosterone. The impairment of cortisol and aldosterone production is directly related to the clinical form of the disease that ranges from classic or severe to non-classic or mild late onset. The deficiency of 21-hydroxylase enzyme results from pathogenic variants on CYP21A2 gene that, in the majority of the cases, compromise enzymatic activity and are strongly correlated with the clinical severity of the disease. Due to the exceptionally high homology and proximity between the gene and the pseudogene, more than 90% of pathogenic variants result from intergenic recombination. Around 75% are deleterious variants transferred from the pseudogene by gene conversion, during mitosis. About 20% are due to unequal crossing over during meiosis and lead to duplications or deletions on CYP21A2 gene. Molecular genetic analysis of CYP21A2 variants is of major importance for confirmation of clinical diagnosis, predicting prognosis and for an appropriate genetic counselling. In this review we will present an update on the genetic analysis of CYP21A2 gene variants in CAH patients performed in our department.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 867-871
Author(s):  
Michael P. Golden ◽  
Barbara M. Lippe ◽  
Solomon A. Kaplan ◽  
Norman Lavin ◽  
John Slavin

Simultaneous serum concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) were compared with urinary 17-ketosteroid (17-KS) and pregnanetriol (PT) excretion during therapy in 18 prepubertal patients with the 21-hydroxylase deficiency form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Patients were classified into those in good, poor, or questionable control on the basis of clinical examination, skeletal age, and 17-KS and PT excretion. During therapy, use of serum steroid concentrations was found to be nearly as accurate in judging adequacy of control as use of urine steroid concentrations. Of 34 evaluations, a definite assessment of adequacy of control could be arrived at 25 times using urinary values and 22 times using both serum DHEA-S and 17-OHP concentrations. DHEA-S concentration responded sluggishly when treatment was not adequate, being greater than 100 µg/dl only in patients significantly undertreated. It was never elevated in well-controlled patients. Mid-afternoon 17-OHP concentrations were less than 200 ng/dl in well-controlled patients but readily escaped suppression and could not be used to differentiate poor from borderline control or from temporary noncompliance. Therefore, an increased DHEA-S concentration indicated poor control and a suppressed 17-OHP concentration indicated good control. The combination of normal DHEA-S level with elevated 17-OHP level, however, did not permit exact evaluation of the degree of control. Of significance is that not all patients with CAH present with an elevated DHEA-S concentration, and only in those in whom an elevated level has been documented can DHEA-S level be used as an index of control during therapy.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruqayah G. Y. Al-Obaidi ◽  
Bassam M. S. Al-Musawi ◽  
Munib Ahmed K. Al-Zubaidi ◽  
Christian Oberkanins ◽  
Stefan Németh ◽  
...  

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a group of autosomal recessive disorders. The most frequent one is 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Analyzing CYP21A2 gene mutations was so far not reported in Iraq. This work aims to analyze the spectrum and frequency of CYP21A2 mutations among Iraqi CAH patients. Sixty-two children were recruited from the Pediatric Endocrine Consultation Clinic, Children Welfare Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, from September 2014 till June 2015. Their ages ranged between one day and 15 years. They presented with salt wasting, simple virilization, or pseudoprecocious puberty. Cytogenetic study was performed for cases with ambiguous genitalia. Molecular analysis of CYP21A2 gene was done using the CAH StripAssay (ViennaLab Diagnostics) for detection of 11 point mutations and >50% of large gene deletions/conversions. Mutations were found in 42 (67.7%) patients; 31 (50%) patients were homozygotes, 9 (14.5%) were heterozygotes, and 2 (3.2%) were compound heterozygotes with 3 mutations, while 20 (32.3%) patients had none of the tested mutations. The most frequently detected mutations were large gene deletions/conversions found in 12 (19.4%) patients, followed by I2Splice and Q318X in 8 (12.9%) patients each, I172N in 5 (8.1%) patients, and V281L in 4 (6.5%) patients. Del 8 bp, P453S, and R483P were each found in one (1.6%) and complex alleles were found in 2 (3.2%). Four point mutations (P30L, Cluster E6, L307 frameshift, and R356W) were not identified in any patient. In conclusion, gene deletions/conversions and 7 point mutations were recorded in varying proportions, the former being the commonest, generally similar to what was reported in regional countries.


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