Hydrocortisone treatment in girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia inhibits serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and affects the GH-IGF-I system.

Sex hormones are modulators of the GH/ IGF-I system. We have hypothesized that the inhibition of DHEAS in treated girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) might affect this modulation. We analyzed serum IGF-I, IGFBP-3 and DHEAS in 17 prepubertal (Pp) and 32 pubertal (Pu) girls with CAH, under hydrocortisone replacement therapy, in the presence of normal (Gr1) or high (Gr2) serum testosterone (T) and androstenedione (A) levels. All groups had appropriate normal controls. Serum DHEAS in patients with CAH was significantly lower than in the respective controls (p < 0.04), except for Pp CAH Gr2. Serum IGF-I, but not serum IGFBP-3, in CAH subgroups was significantly higher than in the respective controls (p < 0.05), except for Pp CAH Gr2. It is concluded that glucocorticoid treatment of girls with CAH results in hypofunction of the adrenal zona reticularis. Low levels of serum DHEAS could be involved in the regulation of IGF-I biological response in target tissues. Additional studies are necessary to confirm these findings.