Male patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism due to isolated luteinizing hormone (LH) deficiency have normal sexual differentiation but fail to develop spontaneous puberty. Absence of LH alters Leydig cell proliferation and maturation and impairs the onset of normal spermatogenesis, which requires high levels of intratesticular testosterone. Infertility and very low levels of spermatogenesis generally persist in affected men despite long-term exposure to gonadotropin therapy. Female patients exhibit normal pubertal development and menarche, followed by oligomenorrhea and anovulatory secondary amenorrhea (summary by Basciani et al., 2012).
Congenital idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) is a disorder characterized by absent or incomplete sexual maturation by the age of 18 years, in conjunction with low levels of circulating gonadotropins and testosterone and no other abnormalities of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. Idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism can be caused by an isolated defect in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GNRH; 152760) release, action, or both. Other associated nonreproductive phenotypes, such as anosmia, cleft palate, and sensorineural hearing loss, occur with variable frequency. In the presence of anosmia, idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism has been called 'Kallmann syndrome (KS),' whereas in the presence of a normal sense of smell, it has been termed 'normosmic idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (nIHH)' (summary by Raivio et al., 2007). Because families have been found to segregate both KS and nIHH, the disorder is here referred to as 'hypogonadotropic hypogonadism with or without anosmia (HH).'
For a general phenotypic description and discussion of genetic heterogeneity of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, see 147950.
Reviews
Arnhold et al. (2009) noted that the clinical manifestations of female patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism due to mutations in LHB are very similar to those of women with hypergonadotropic hypogonadism due to inactivating mutations of the LH receptor (see 238320): all have female external genitalia, spontaneous development of normal pubic hair and breasts at puberty, and normal to late menarche followed by oligoamenorrhea and infertility. Pelvic ultrasound shows a small or normal uterus and normal or enlarged ovaries with cysts. However, women with LHB mutations can be treated with luteinizing hormone or chorionic gonadotropin (CG; 118860) replacement therapy; women with LH receptor mutations are resistant to LH, and no treatment is effective in recovering their fertility. [from
OMIM]