Estrogens Are Essential for Male Pubertal Periosteal Bone Expansion

The skeletal response to estrogen therapy was studied in a 17-yr-old boy with congenital aromatase deficiency. As expected, estrogen therapy (1 mg estradiol valeriate/d from age 17 until 20 yr) normalized total and free testosterone and reduced the rate of bone remodeling. Dual-energy x-ray absorpti...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism 2004-12, Vol.89 (12), p.6025-6029
Main Authors: Bouillon, Roger, Bex, Marie, Vanderschueren, Dirk, Boonen, Steven
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Aromatase - deficiency
Biological and medical sciences
Bone Density
Bone Development - drug effects
Endocrinopathies
Estrogens - therapeutic use
Femur Neck - metabolism
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Lumbar Vertebrae - metabolism
Male
Medical sciences
Periosteum - physiopathology
Puberty
Radius - diagnostic imaging
Steroid Metabolism, Inborn Errors - diagnostic imaging
Steroid Metabolism, Inborn Errors - drug therapy
Steroid Metabolism, Inborn Errors - physiopathology
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Vertebrates: endocrinology
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The skeletal response to estrogen therapy was studied in a 17-yr-old boy with congenital aromatase deficiency. As expected, estrogen therapy (1 mg estradiol valeriate/d from age 17 until 20 yr) normalized total and free testosterone and reduced the rate of bone remodeling. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry-assessed areal bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine and femoral neck increased significantly (by 23% and 14%, respectively), but peripheral quantitative computed tomography at the ultradistal radius revealed no gain of either trabecular or cortical volumetric BMD. The increase in areal BMD was thus driven by an increase in bone size. Indeed, longitudinal bone growth (height, +8.5%) and especially cross-sectional area of the radius (+46%) and cortical thickness (+12%), as measured by peripheral quantitative computed tomography, increased markedly during estrogen treatment. These findings demonstrate that androgens alone are insufficient, whereas estrogens are essential for the process of pubertal periosteal bone expansion typically associated with the male bone phenotype.
ISSN:0021-972X
1945-7197
DOI:10.1210/jc.2004-0602