Pathogenesis of growth failure in renal diseases

This article reviews our current understanding of the mechanisms of growth failure in chronic renal disease. The neuro-endocrine control of growth hormone secretion and insulin-like growth factor gene expression subject to use of corticosteroids, uremia, and metabolic acidosis are presented. It has been shown in other non-growth hormone deficient conditions such as Turner's syndrome that the use of exogenous growth hormone increases linear growth but also accelerates closure of the growth plate with no significant difference in the final height of such children. An understanding of growth factors is especially important and timely because of the tendency these days to use growth hormone to overcome the growth impairment of children with chronic renal failure.