Early treatment of Kallmann syndrome may prevent eunuchoid appearance and behavior

• Published in: Medical hypotheses Vol. 82; no. 1; pp. 74 - 76
• Main Authors: Castañeyra-Perdomo, Agustín, Castañeyra-Ruiz, Leandro, González-Marrero, Ibrahim, Castañeyra-Ruiz, Agustin, Gonzalez-Toledo, Juan M, Castañeyra-Ruiz, Maria, Carmona-Calero, Emilia M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2014
• Subjects: Age Factors; Behavioral Symptoms - prevention & control; Brain - growth & development; Brain - physiopathology; Humans; Internal Medicine; Kallmann Syndrome - drug therapy; Kallmann Syndrome - pathology; Models, Biological; Sexual Maturation - physiology
• ISSN: 0306-9877; 1532-2777
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2013.11.011

Abstract Kallmann syndrome (KS) is a genetic disorder which combines hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and anosmia. Hypogonadism is characterized by the absence or reduced levels of gonadotropin-releasing hormone and anosmia due to olfactory bulb aplasia. KS treatment usually begins just before puberty, but brain sexual maturation occurs long before puberty normally at perinatal age. As brain cells implicated in the development of the olfactory and reproductive system have a rostral and a caudal origin, and the rostral origin is affected by aplasia in KS and the caudal origin does not seem to be affected, the early treatment of KS, as proposed in this paper, is to attain brain sexual maturation at the most appropriate age possible to prevent the eunuchoid behavior and appearance observed in KS.