Hyperandrogenemia and Altered Day-night LH Pulse Patterns

Inclusion Criteria: * Mid- to late pubertal adolescent girl (at least Tanner breast stage 3, but no more than 2 years postmenarcheal) * Hyperandrogenism, defined as a serum (calculated) free testosterone concentration greater than the Tanner stage-specific reference range and/or unequivocal evidence for hirsutism * General good health (excepting overweight, obesity, hyperandrogenism, and adequately-treated hypothyroidism) * Capable of and willing to provide informed assent (adolescents under age 16 years) and/or consent (adolescents over age 16 years; custodial parents or guardians of all adolescent volunteers) * Willing to strictly avoid pregnancy with use of reliable non-hormonal methods during the study period Exclusion Criteria: * Inability/incapacity to provide informed consent * Males will be excluded (hyperandrogenism is unique to females) * Obesity resulting from a well-defined endocrinopathy or genetic syndrome * Positive pregnancy test or current lactation * Evidence for non-physiologic or non-PCOS causes of hyperandrogenism and/or anovulation * Evidence of virilization (e.g., rapidly progressive hirsutism, deepening of the voice, clitoromegaly) * Total testosterone \> 150 ng/dl, which suggests the possibility of virilizing ovarian or adrenal tumor * DHEA-S elevation \> 1.5 times the upper reference range limit. Mild elevations may be seen in adolescent HA and in PCOS, and will be accepted in these groups. * Early morning 17-hydroxyprogesterone \> 200 ng/dl measu…