Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Does growth hormone treatment increase chromosomal abnormalities?

M Bozzola¹, K Tettoni, F Severi

¹Department of Paediatrics, University of Pavia, Italy.

Clinical Endocrinology

|November 28, 1997

Summary

Growth hormone (GH) therapy did not increase chromosomal abnormalities in children with GH deficiency (GHD). This study found no evidence of increased cancer risk from GH treatment in GHD patients.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Extracellular vesicles from the follicular fluid of competent oocytes improve blastocyst yields when supplemented during simulated physiological oocyte maturation in cattle.

Theriogenology·2025

Same author

Methylome-wide analysis of milk somatic cells upon subclinical mastitis in dairy cattle.

Journal of dairy science·2023

Same author

Comparison between indicine and taurine cattle DNA methylation reveals epigenetic variation associated to differences in morphological adaptive traits.

Epigenetics·2023

Same author

Recommendations for pre-symptomatic genetic testing for hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in the era of effective therapy: a multicenter Italian consensus.

Orphanet journal of rare diseases·2020

Same author

Structural brain anomalies in Cri-du-Chat syndrome: MRI findings in 14 patients and possible genotype-phenotype correlations.

European journal of paediatric neurology : EJPN : official journal of the European Paediatric Neurology Society·2020

Same author

Evaluation of the effects of different diets on microbiome diversity and fatty acid composition of rumen liquor in dairy goat.

Animal : an international journal of animal bioscience·2018

Area of Science:

Endocrinology
Genetics
Oncology

Background:

The potential link between growth hormone (GH) therapy and malignancy, particularly leukaemias, is a subject of ongoing debate.
Further investigation is needed to clarify the safety profile of GH treatment concerning genetic stability.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether growth hormone (GH) treatment induces chromosomal abnormalities in peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients with GH deficiency (GHD).
To assess the potential genotoxic effects of GH therapy in pediatric patients.

Main Methods:

An open, prospective study was conducted at a University Hospital.
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 14 GHD patients (aged 1.8-18 years) were analyzed before, during, and after GH therapy.
Chromosomal analysis of 5300 cells examined for breaks, rearrangements, and aneuploidies, compared to 12 age-matched healthy controls.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

The incidence of chromatid and chromosome breaks in GHD patients before treatment and in controls was similar (0-6%).
During GH therapy, the rate of aneuploid metaphases (0-7%) was comparable to that of healthy controls.
Chromosomal loss and gain occurred randomly, with no significant increase observed during treatment.

Conclusions:

Growth hormone (GH) therapy does not appear to induce chromosomal abnormalities in peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients with GH deficiency (GHD).
The findings suggest that GH treatment is not associated with increased genotoxic risk in the studied pediatric population.