Prolonged suppression of gonadotropin secretion after weight recovery in an anorectic patient with Turner's syndrome: reduced gonadal function in anorexia nervosa is independent in part on nutrition.

Two hypotheses have been postulated as to the pathogenesis of hypogonadotropinemia in anorexia nervosa; one is starvation and weight loss and the other is a psychological factor to influence gonadotropin secretion. Our patient suffered from very rare concurrence of Turner's syndrome and anorexia nervosa and a study of this experiment in nature provided important evidences concerning decreased secretion of gonadotropins in the eating disorder. The patient was diagnosed as Turner's syndrome when she was 6 years old. Her gonadotropin levels were elevated to the castrated ranges (LH 61.8 IU/l; FSH 175.8 IU/l) after 8 years of age. She was noticed to be anorectic at the age of 13 years. Serum levels of the pituitary gonadotropins were lowered (LH 2.9 IU/l; FSH 3.0 IU/l) and their responses to luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone were decreased beneath the normal prepubertal limits. After one year of the anorectic period, she recovered the weight though her gonadotropin levels remained in the very low ranges (LH 2.7 IU/l; FSH 2.5 IU/l). The results suggest that hypogonadism in anorexia nervosa is not solely caused by nutritional deficiency but rather by other factors such as psychological abnormalities.