To Örebro University

BACKGROUND: Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) is a rare disorder that manifests absent puberty and infertility. Genetic syndromes with hypogonadism, such as Klinefelter syndrome, are associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). However, it is not clear if patients with HH or transient delayed puberty in general, have an increased risk of NDDs.

METHODS: We performed a register-based study on a national cohort of 264 patients with HH and 7447 patients diagnosed with delayed puberty that was matched with 2640 and 74470 controls, respectively. The outcome was defined as having any of the following NDD diagnoses; (1) autism spectrum disorder (ASD), (2) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or (3) intellectual disability (ID). Additional sensitivity analyses were performed to control for different parental and birth variables as well as diagnosed malformation syndromes and chromosomal anomalies (i.e., Down and Turner syndromes).

RESULTS: Patients with HH had increased risk for being diagnosed with ASD (OR 5.7; 95% CI 2.6 - 12.6), ADHD (3.0; 1.8 - 5.1) and ID (18.0; 8.9 - 36.3) compared with controls. Patients with delayed puberty also had a significantly increased risk of being diagnosed with an NDD. These associations remained significant after adjustments.

CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to demonstrate a significant association between HH, delayed puberty and NDDs in a population-based cohort. Clinicians should be aware of the overlap between these disorders. Further studies should explore the mechanisms behind these associations.