New gene targets in the study of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism

Abstract

The incidence of congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) is approximately 1–10 in 100,000 live births. Known syndromes, such as Kallman syndrome, caused by a mutation in the KAL-1 gene, and other genes listed in the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man database, account for 2/3 of the cases. The rest of these cases where there is no known genetic cause for HH are termed idiopathic. In this editorial, I describe each of the articles in the Special Issue on Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism, with a focus on new genes that might be included in future screens of idiopathic patients.