Serum sex hormone concentrations in adolescent secondary amenorrhoea

The hormone concentrations of 17 amenorrhoeic adolescent girls, with no apparent environmental factor associated with the secondary amenorrhoea, were evaluated. 28 regularly menstruating adolescent girls served as controls. The clinical characteristics of both groups were similar, except that the amenorrhoeic girls showed clinical signs of androgenicity significantly more often than the regularly menstruating group. The concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), prolactin, oestradiol, progesterone, testosterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEAS), and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were determined in weekly blood specimens from the amenorrhoeic girls and during one menstrual cycle from the regularly menstruating girls. The amenorrhoeic girls had significantly higher concentrations of LH, androstenedione and free testosterone than the regularly menstruating girls. The LH/FSH ratio was significantly higher in the amenorrhoeic group than in the control group. The SHBG concentrations were significantly lower in the amenorrhoeic group than in the regularly menstruating group. Evaluation of the clinical signs of androgenicity combined with LH and androgen measurements seems important in the investigation of adolescent menstrual disorders.