Increased liver enzymes and hormonal therapies in girls and adolescents with Turner syndrome

Elevated liver enzymes can be seen relatively frequently in patients with Turner syndrome (TS), while the pathogenesis of this remains unclear. Our epidemiological and prospective study aimed to investigate : a) the natural 2-yr course of liver disease in a selected cohort of young patients with TS, who had been preliminarily recruited on the basis of persistently elevated liver enzymes; b) the role of prolonged hormonal therapies in the etiology of liver dysfunction. From an overall population of 214 TS patients younger than 20 yr, only 19 (8.9%) were recruited, according to the following inclusion criteria: increased serum concentrations of one or more liver enzymes, exceeding the uppermost limit of the respective normal ranges, and persistence of these liver alterations for 6 months after the preliminary assessment. On the basis of the results of this prospective study, we can conclude that: a) the prevalence of liver abnormalities in girls and adolescents with TS is much lower and more strictly related to hormonal therapies than in TS adults; b) both autoimmunity and obesity are not frequently involved in the etiology of TS liver dysfunction; c) liver damage is either mild or moderate and its severity is not conditioned by karyotype; d) its course may be self-limiting; e) its natural history may be characterized in some cases by a slight deterioration of intrahepatic cholestasis, with no negative repercussions on liver synthetic function.