Kisspeptin Hormone Treatment
If you suffer from hypothalamic amenorrhea, which means that you have low sex hormones and didn't go through puberty properly, researchers in the UK may have an answer for you.
Reproductive Regulator
It seems that in some people suffering from infertility, a key gene -the KISS-1 which is involved in reproductive regulation, doesn't function properly. This KISS-1 gene produces a hormone called kisspeptin, and it is this hormone that enables both humans and animals to go through puberty. If you didn't become sexually mature because of a hormonal problem and don't have periods, i.e suffer from hypothalamic amenorrhea, then obviously it isn't possible to become pregnant. Some recent research into the function of this kisspeptin hormone now offers hope for women suffering with hormonal imbalances and hypothalamic amenorrhea in particular.
Small Study
A small study presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Endocrinology in Manchester, England in March 2010, showed that women injected with this kisspeptin hormone had their LH (luteinizing hormone)and FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) levels increase by a substantial amount. In fact, women participating in the trial showed an impressive 16-fold increase in their hormonal responses. When the researchers tried treating the women every day with the hormone, it was not effective as the body's system stopped reacting. However, it seems that by treating intermittently, the researchers overcame this problem. They found that injecting the women with the hormone twice a week for two months was the most effective treatment.
This study conducted by Dr Waljit Dhillo of Imperial College London, and funded by the British Medical Research Council, was a follow up study to some previous research with the same hormone. Dr Dhillo's team was able to show that injecting women with this kisspeptin hormone could activate the sex hormones controlling the menstrual cycle. First tested on healthy women, Dr Dhillo then tried the hormone on women suffering from hypothalamic amenorrhea. He found that this treatment was actually more effective in women whose hormones weren't working properly than it was in healthy women.
Future
Some more, larger, randomized trials need to be done in order to confirm the result of the study and to see how effective this treatment is in the long term. Therapeutic use of kisspeptin may also help with other women suffering with other LH and FSH hormone level disorders. If you suffer from hypothalamic amenorrhea, why not ask your fertility specialist if there are any medical trials underway in your area that you could participate in. Perhaps you will be able to further medical knowledge and help yourself and other women suffering from this type of infertility.
Remember even though this hormone treatment isn't available at present, it may be soon, and more research into fertility issues is being done all the time, so don't give up hope.
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