Related Experiment Videos
Growth hormone--dependent growth failure
The Journal of Pediatrics
|July 1, 1982
Summary
Growth failure in children may not indicate growth hormone (GH) deficiency. Some children benefit from GH therapy, showing improved growth despite normal GH levels, suggesting a potential GH dependency.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Growth Hormone Biology
Background:
- Growth failure can occur with normal or high serum growth hormone (GH) but low somatomedin (Sm) levels.
- Assessing GH efficacy requires understanding circulating GH characteristics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate growth response to GH administration in prepubertal children with growth failure and low somatomedin.
- To characterize circulating GH using a radioreceptor assay (RRA) in these patients.
Main Methods:
- Studied five prepubertal children with significant growth failure (mean height -7.8 SD).
- Measured serum GH by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and somatomedin activity using a rat cartilage bioassay.
- Characterized circulating GH using a human GH radioreceptor assay (RRA) with IM-9 lymphocytes.
- Administered GH therapy for one year and monitored growth velocity.
Main Results:
- Patients had elevated RIA-GH but low basal Sm activity, which increased with GH therapy.
- Four of five children showed significantly increased growth velocity during GH therapy.
- Children who responded to GH had a higher RIA-GH/RRA-GH ratio compared to the non-responder.
Conclusions:
- Growth in some growth-retarded children may depend on exogenous GH, even without meeting standard GH deficiency criteria.
- Radioreceptor assay provides insights into GH bioactivity and response to therapy.
- GH therapy can be beneficial for specific cases of idiopathic short stature or growth failure.