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Subject Area

Internal Medicine

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Objective The aim of this work to assess melatonin level in boys with constitutional delayed puberty (CDP) and study its correlation to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), total testosterone, and prolactin hormones. Background CDP is a common cause of pubertal delay. These boys have no underlying pathology and will progress normally. Melatonin hormone has an important role in pubertal onset. Before puberty, it is too high for hypothalamic activation. However, at puberty, it drop below threshold value, after which pubertal changes start occurring. Patients and methods This study was carried out on 50 boys aged 14–18 years who were divided into two groups: 25 boys with CDP as a patient group and another 25 age-matched boys with full pubertal development as a control group. All boys were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination, bone age determination, and laboratory investigations (testosterone, FSH, prolactin, and melatonin). Results Our results showed that in CDP, bone age is significantly delayed compared with their chronological age as well as the bone age of control group. Weight and height are significantly less in CDP than control. Both serum total testosterone and FSH are significantly lower in CDP compared with controls, whereas there were insignificant differences in serum prolactin. Melatonin is significantly higher in CDP compared with control. Melatonin is inversely correlated with both testosterone and FSH and has no correlation with prolactin. Conclusion Melatonin is significantly elevated in CDP boys, and it is negatively correlated with hormones of sexual maturation (testosterone) and reproduction (FSH).

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