Related Experiment Videos
Bone alkaline phosphatase and height velocity in short normal children undergoing growth-promoting treatments:
P M Crofton1, H F Stirling, C J Kelnar
1Department of Paediatric Biochemistry, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, UK.
Insights
Bone alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is a valuable short-term growth marker in children treated with growth hormone. Its levels closely paralleled height velocity during treatment, indicating its utility in monitoring growth progress.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Biochemistry
- Growth Monitoring
Background:
- Assessing growth in short normal children is crucial for treatment efficacy.
- Bone alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is a potential biomarker for bone growth.
- Growth hormone therapy is used to enhance growth in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between bone alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and height velocity in short normal children.
- To determine if bone ALP can serve as a short-term marker for growth acceleration during treatment.
Main Methods:
- Prospective randomized study comparing placebo, growth hormone, oxandrolone, and testosterone.
- Measured bone alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and height velocity over 12-42 months in 62 children.
- Analyzed temporal and quantitative correlations between bone ALP and height velocity.
Main Results:
- Pretreatment correlation between bone ALP and height velocity was weak.
- A strong correlation (P = 0.0001) emerged after 3 months of treatment.
- Bone ALP consistently paralleled height velocity within individual children across treatment groups.
- Bone ALP strongly correlated with 6-month height velocity in 70% of children.
Conclusions:
- Bone alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is a useful short-term indicator of growth in short normal children.
- Bone ALP effectively tracks growth responses during growth hormone therapy.
- The study supports the use of bone ALP for monitoring treatment efficacy in pediatric growth disorders.
Abstract:
We studied the temporal and quantitative relation between bone alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and height velocity in 62 short normal children as part of a prospective randomized study to compare placebo, growth hormone, oxandralone, and testosterone, singly and in combination, in promoting short-term growth acceleration and increased final height. The pretreatment cross-sectional correlation between bone ALP and height velocity was poor (P > or = 0.25), but was much higher (P = 0.0001) 3 months after treatment started. In each treatment group, there was a parallel relation between bone ALP and height velocity through time. Individual children showed a variety of growth responses over 12-42 months, but in almost all cases bone ALP paralleled height velocity. Within individual children, bone ALP was strongly correlated with 6-month height velocity (r > 0.9 in 30% of the children, r > 0.7 in 70%). We conclude that bone ALP is a useful short-term marker of growth in short normal children treated with growth hormone.