J Korean Soc Pediatr Endocrinol.  2006 Jun;11(1):40-44.

Effect of Potent Aromatase Inhibitor (Letrozole) on Bone Maturation and Predicted Adult Height in Boys with Early Puberty

• Kim JY
• Cha EY
• Jung MH
• Lee BC

Abstract

PURPOSE: We evaluated the effect of potent aromatase inhibitor (Letrozole) on the rate of bone maturation and an increase in predicted adult height (PAH) in boys with early puberty.
METHODS
Nine boys, aged 10.9-12.9 years, with early puberty were studied. The boys were treated with the aromatase inhibitor, letrozole, 2.5 mg/day for 1 year. The main outcome parameters were the change in bone age and predicted adult height. Also, serum LH, FSH, testosterone and estradiol concentrations were measured and sexual maturation before and after 12 months of treatment were evaluated.
RESULTS
PAH significantly increased by 3.3 cm (P<0.05) and PAH standard deviation score significantly increased by 0.6 (P<0.05). Bone age before therapy advanced by 0.72+/-0.93 year, but bone age after therapy decreased by 0.07+/-0.90 year compared to chronological age (P<0.01). Whereas, sexual maturation of the subjects progressed normally.
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that treatment with the potent aromatase inhibitor, letrozole, delays bone maturation and improves PAH in boys with early puberty.

Keyword

Aromatase inhibitor; Early puberty; Predicted adult height; Bone maturation

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult*
Aromatase*
Estradiol
Humans
Puberty*
Sexual Maturation
Testosterone
Aromatase
Estradiol
Testosterone