Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39856629›Full record

Trial reportBMC pediatrics2025

The efficacy and safety of rhGH treatment combined with letrozole/GnRHa in adolescent boys.

Ying Zhang, Xin Yuan, Kenneth McCormick, Xiao-Hong Yang, Shi-Jun Chen, Rui-Min Chen

Abstract readClinical TrialComparative Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Testicular Volume of 4 mL Is Not an Appropriate Marker of Pubertal Onset in a Subset of Boys Born Small for Gestational Age.Sexual development : genetics, molecular biology, evolution, endocrinology, embryology, and pathology of sex determination and differentiation · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. [Growth plate regulation and short stature: mechanistic insights and therapeutic advances].Zhongguo dang dai er ke za zhi = Chinese journal of contemporary pediatrics
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Ying ZhangDepartment of Endocrinology, Genetics and Metabolism, Fuzhou First General Hospital Affiliated with Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou Children's Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China.
Xin YuanDepartment of Endocrinology, Genetics and Metabolism, Fuzhou First General Hospital Affiliated with Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou Children's Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China.
Kenneth McCormickDivision of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, 35233, USA.
Xiao-Hong YangDepartment of Endocrinology, Genetics and Metabolism, Fuzhou First General Hospital Affiliated with Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou Children's Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China.
Shi-Jun ChenDepartment of Endocrinology, Genetics and Metabolism, Fuzhou First General Hospital Affiliated with Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou Children's Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China.
Rui-Min ChenDepartment of Endocrinology, Genetics and Metabolism, Fuzhou First General Hospital Affiliated with Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou Children's Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China. chenrm321@163.com.ORCID 0000-0003-4114-7706

Funding

Hospital Project of Fuzhou Children's Hospital of Fujian Medical University YJ-2020-03Key Clinical Specialty Discipline Construction Program of Fujian Province 20230103
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveIn boys during puberty who were undergoing recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) treatment, we compared the therapeutic efficacy on growth, and any adverse reactions, of co-therapy with either letrozole or gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog (GnRHa).

methodsFifty-six pubertal growth hormone deficiency (GHD) boys were studied, they were treated with the combination of letrozole and rhGH (letrozole group, n = 28) or the combination of GnRHa and rhGH (GnRHa group, n = 28) for at least one year. Eighteen patients in the letrozole group and seventeen patients in the GnRHa group attained final adult height (FAH).

resultsThe increase in height of the letrozole group was significantly more than the GnRHa group both in the first year [(10.37 ± 2.19) vs. (7.78 ± 1.55) cm] and at two years [(18.82 ± 2.49) vs. (13.84 ± 2.17) cm] (p < 0.05), however, there was no significant group difference in the advancement of bone age (BA) of in the first year or at two years (p > 0.05). The mean FAH in two groups were similar, but the treatment duration of the letrozole group was significantly less than GnRHa group. There was a significant body mass index (BMI) SDS increase in the letrozole vs. GnRHa groups. Of concern, bone mineral density (BMD) decreased in both groups after treatment, but more so in the letrozole cohort.

conclusionThe combination of letrozole/rhGH in pubertal GHD boys was similar to GnRHa/rhGH in terms of the progression of BA and FAH, but the former co-therapy was superior in the gain of height. Disconcertingly, however, this combination may adversely affect BMI and BMD. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR2300068405.

Indexed as

Aromatase InhibitorsGonadotropin-Releasing HormoneGrowth DisordersHuman Growth HormoneNitrilesTriazolesAdolescentBody HeightChildDrug Therapy, CombinationHumansLetrozoleMalePubertyRecombinant ProteinsTreatment OutcomeAromatase InhibitorsGonadotropin-Releasing HormoneHuman Growth HormoneLetrozoleNitrilesRecombinant ProteinsTriazolesAdolescent boysGonadotropin releasingGrowth hormone deficiencyLetrozoleRecombinant human growth hormoneShort stature

Identifiers

PMID39856629
PMCPMC11761712

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.