Sex difference in patients with controlled acromegaly—A multicentre survey

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  • Jakob Dal
  • Christian Rosendal
  • Jesper Karmisholt
  • Feldt-Rasmussen, Ulla
  • Marianne S. Andersen
  • Marianne Klose
  • Claus feltoft
  • Ansgar Heck
  • Eigil H. Nielsen
  • Jens O.L. Jørgensen

Objective: Active acromegaly is subject to sex differences in growth hormone (GH) and Insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-I) patterns as well as clinical features but whether this also pertains to controlled disease is unclear. Design: In a cross-sectional, multi-centre study, 84 patients with acromegaly (F = 43, M = 41), who were considered controlled after surgery alone (n = 23) or during continued somatostatin receptor ligand (SRL) treatment (n = 61), were examined. Methods: Serum concentrations of GH, insulin, glucose and free fatty acid (FFA) were measured during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) together with baseline serum IGF-I and completion of two HR-Qol questionnaires (acromegaly quality of life questionnaire [AcroQol] and Patient-assessed Acromegaly Symptom Questionnaire [PASQ]). Results: The mean age at the time of the study was 57 (±1.1) years and the majority of females (were postmenopausal. Females had significantly higher fasting GH but comparable IGF-I standard deviation scores (SDS). Using fasting GH < 1.0 µg/L as cut off, disease control was less prevalent in females (F: 56% vs. M: 83%, p =.007) whereas a comparable figure was observed using IGF-I SDS < 2 (F:79% vs. M:76%, p =.71). Compared with males, female patients showed impaired AcroQol physical score (p =.05), higher fasting FFA (p =.03) and insulin concentrations during the OGTT (p =.04). Conclusion: In patients with acromegaly considered controlled, postmenopausal females exhibited higher GH levels than males despite comparable IGF-I levels, which also translated into impaired metabolic health and well-being. Our findings point to the relevance of including GH measurements in the assessment of disease control and suggest that disease-specific sex differences prevail after treatment.

Original languageEnglish
JournalClinical Endocrinology
Volume98
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)74-81
ISSN0300-0664
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Clinical Endocrinology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

    Research areas

  • acromegaly, age, FFA, GH, IGF-I, insulin, pituitary adenoma, quality of life, sex

ID: 314147552