Twenty-Four Hour Patterns of Plasma Luteinizing Hormone and Follicle-Stimulating Hormone in Sexual Precocity

To evaluate the secretory patterns of luteinizing and follicle-stimulating hormones in various forms of sexual precocity, plasma levels of these hormones were measured every 20 minutes for 24 hours in six patients and nine normal pubertal children. Three patients with "idiopathic" precocious puberty and one boy with a hypothalamic tumo rand precocious puberty exhibited fluctuating plasma concentrations that resembled findings in normal pubertal children in that they had significantly increased luteinizing hormone concentrations during sleep. Two boys with congenital adrenal hyperplasia and advanced bone age also showed episodic fluctuation of both hormones and augmented luteinizing hormone concentrations during sleep. These findings show that patients with precocious puberty related either to Central-nervous-system stimulation or to a primary adrenal disorder can exhibit the normal pubertal luteinizing hormone pattern of augmented secretory activity synchronous with sleep. (N Engl J Med 289:282–286, 1973)