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Serum bone GLA-protein in growth hormone deficient children
P D Delmas1, P Chatelain, L Malaval
1INSERM U-234, University of Lyon, France.
Insights
Serum bone GLA-protein (BGP) levels reflect bone formation in children. Growth hormone (GH) deficiency significantly lowers BGP, but human GH treatment normalizes levels, indicating BGP
Area of Science:
- Pediatric endocrinology
- Bone metabolism
- Biochemical markers
Background:
- Serum bone Gla-protein (BGP) is a sensitive indicator of bone formation.
- BGP levels exhibit distinct age-related patterns in normal children.
- Growth disorders can impact bone metabolism markers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate serum BGP levels in normal children and children with growth disorders.
- To assess the relationship between serum BGP and growth hormone (GH) status.
- To investigate the effect of human GH therapy on serum BGP levels.
Main Methods:
- Serum BGP was measured in 54 normal children and 50 children with growth disorders.
- Comparison of BGP levels between age-matched controls and patients with GH deficiency.
- Monitoring of BGP levels in GH-deficient patients before, during, and after human GH treatment.
Main Results:
- Normal children show age-dependent variations in serum BGP, mirroring growth velocity.
- Untreated GH-deficient children have significantly lower serum BGP compared to controls.
- Human GH treatment increased serum BGP in deficient patients, normalizing levels and correlating with treatment duration.
Conclusions:
- Serum BGP is a reliable marker for assessing bone formation in pediatric populations.
- GH deficiency is associated with impaired bone formation, reflected by low BGP levels.
- Human GH therapy effectively restores bone formation markers in GH-deficient children.
Abstract:
Serum bone GLA-protein (BGP), a sensitive and specific marker of bone formation, was measured in 54 normal children and in 50 children with growth disorders. In normal children, the pattern of variations of serum BGP with age was similar to the pattern of variations of the growth velocity. Mean serum BGP was very high during the first year of life (25.3 +/- 8.5 ng/ml), decreased to 14.8 +/- 2.2 ng/ml from 2 to 6 years, increased to 18.4 +/- 4.1 ng/ml from 7 to 10 years and to 18.8 +/- 6.5 ng/ml from 11 to 14 years. After puberty, mean sBGP decreased to 12.9 +/- 5.4 ng/ml from 15 to 18 years and to 6.5 +/- 1.4 ng/ml in young adults. In 32 patients with untreated growth hormone (GH) deficiency, mean sBGP was markedly lower than in age matched controls (6.8 +/- 4.4 ng/ml vs. 17.5 +/- 4.9 ng/ml, p less than .001). In 19 patients with GH deficiency who were undergoing treatment with human GH, sBGP was higher than in untreated patients (20.5 +/- 9.3 ng/ml vs. 6.8 +/- 4.4 ng/ml, p less than .001) and was not different from controls. Repeated measurements performed in 14 GH-deficient patients under chronic GH therapy showed that serum BGP: (1) increased in most patients during treatment (p less than .005); (2) was correlated with the duration of treatment (p less than .001); (3) decreased to pretreatment values after discontinuing therapy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)