NCT03068910 Hyperandrogenemia and Altered Day-night LH Pulse Patterns

Eligibility & Interventions

Eligibility Fast-Check

Enter your details for a quick preliminary check. This does not replace medical advice.

What to Expect as a Participant

You will actively receive the study intervention — which may be a drug, biologic, device, or procedure.

Phase 1 is the earliest stage of human testing — safety and dosage are the primary focus. Visits are frequent and medical supervision is intensive. You will be among the first people to receive this treatment.

This trial targets 32 participants in total. It began in 2016-07-21 with a primary completion date of 2025-10-01.

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine if, in mid- to late pubertal girls with hyperandrogenism, androgen-receptor blockade (spironolactone) improves the ability of progesterone to acutely reduce waking luteinizing hormone pulse frequency (primary endpoint).

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * Mid- to late pubertal adolescent girl (at least Tanner breast stage 3, but no more than 2 years postmenarcheal) * Hyperandrogenism, defined as a serum (calculated) free testosterone concentration greater than the Tanner stage-specific reference range and/or unequivocal evidence for hirsutism * General good health (excepting overweight, obesity, hyperandrogenism, and adequately-treated hypothyroidism) * Capable of and willing to provide informed assent (adolescents under age 16 years) and/or consent (adolescents over age 16 years; custodial parents or guardians of all adolescent volunteers) * Willing to strictly avoid pregnancy with use of reliable non-hormonal methods during the study period Exclusion Criteria: * Inability/incapacity to provide informed consent * Males will be excluded (hyperandrogenism is unique to females) * Obesity resulting from a well-defined endocrinopathy or genetic syndrome * Positive pregnancy test or current lactation * Evidence for non-physiologic or non-PCOS causes of hyperandrogenism and/or anovulation * Evidence of virilization (e.g., rapidly progressive hirsutism, deepening of the voice, clitoromegaly) * Total testosterone \> 150 ng/dl, which suggests the possibility of virilizing ovarian or adrenal tumor * DHEA-S elevation \> 1.5 times the upper reference range limit. Mild elevations may be seen in adolescent HA and in PCOS, and will be accepted in these groups. * Early morning 17-hydroxyprogesterone \> 200 ng/dl measured in the follicular phase, which suggests the possibility of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (if elevated during the luteal phase, the 17-hydroxyprogesterone will be repeated during the follicular phase). NOTE: If a 17-hydroxyprogesterone \> 200 ng/dl is confirmed on repeat testing, an ACTH stimulated 17-hydroxyprogesterone \< 1000 ng/dl will be required for study participation. * Abnormal thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH): Note that subjects with stable and adequately treated primary hypothyroidism, reflected by normal TSH values, will not be excluded. * Hyperprolactinemia \> 20% higher than the upper limit of normal. Mild prolactin elevations may be seen in adolescents and women with HA/PCOS, and elevations within 20% higher than the upper limit of normal will be accepted in this group. * History and/or physical exam findings suggestive of Cushing's syndrome, adrenal insufficiency, or acromegaly * History and/or physical exam findings suggestive of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (e.g., symptoms of estrogen deficiency) including functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (which may be suggested by a constellation of symptoms including restrictive eating patterns, excessive exercise, psychological stress, etc.) * Persistent hematocrit \< 36% and hemoglobin \< 12 g/dl. * Severe thrombocytopenia (platelets \< 50,000 cells/microliter) or leukopenia (total white blood count \< 4,000 cells/microliter) * Previous diagnosis of diabetes, fasting glucose \> or = 126 mg/dl, or a hemoglobin A1c \> or = 6.5% * Persistent liver panel abnormalities, with two exceptions. Mild bilirubin elevations will be accepted in the setting of known Gilbert's syndrome. Also, mild transaminase elevations may be seen in obesity/HA/PCOS; therefore, elevations \< 1.5 times the upper limit of normal will be accepted in this group. * Significant history of cardiac or pulmonary dysfunction (e.g., known or suspected congestive heart failure, asthma requiring intermittent systemic corticosteroids, etc.) * Decreased renal function evidenced by GFR \< 60 ml/min/1.73m2 * A personal history of breast, ovarian, or endometrial cancer * History of any other cancer diagnosis and/or treatment (with the exception of basal cell or squamous cell skin carcinoma) unless they have remained clinically disease free (based on appropriate surveillance) for five years * History of allergy to micronized progesterone or spironolactone * Body mass index (BMI)-for-age percentile \< 5% (underweight) * Due to the amount of blood being drawn, adolescent volunteers with body weight \< 25 kg will be excluded. * Restrictions on use of other drugs or treatments: No medications known to affect the reproductive system, glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, or blood pressure can be taken in the 2 months prior to the screening visit and in the 3 months prior to the start of the study medications. Such medications include oral contraceptive pills, progestins, metformin, systemic glucocorticoids, some antipsychotic medications, and sympathomimetics/stimulants (e.g., methylphenidate).

Contact & Investigator

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Trials