No Improvement of Adult Height in Non-growth Hormone (GH) Deficient Short
Children with GH Treatment |
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| Authors: | Toshiaki Tanaka Kenji Fujieda Susumu Yokoya Akira Shimatsu Katsuhiko Tachibana Hiroyuki Tanaka Takakuni Tanizawa Akira Teramoto Toshiro Nagai Yoshikazu Nishi Yukihiro Hasegawa Kunihiko Hanew Keinosuke Fujita Reiko Horikawa Goro Takada Masao Miyashita Tadashi Ohno Kazuo Komatsu |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Study Group of Growth Hormone Treatment, the Foundation for Growth Science, Japan;2.Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan;3. Akita University, Akita, Japan.;4. Akita Red Cross Hospital, Akita, Japan.;5. Ohno Clinic, Akita, Japan;6. Akita Kumiai General Hospital, Akita, Japan |
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| Abstract: | It is still in doubt whether the standard-dose growth hormone (GH) used in Japan (0.5IU/kg/week, 0.167 mg/kg/week) for growth hormone deficiency is effective for achievingsignificant adult height improvement in non-growth hormone deficient (non-GHD) shortchildren. We compared the growth of GH-treated non-GHD short children with that ofuntreated short children to examine the effect of standard-dose GH treatment on non-GHDshort children. GH treatment with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) was startedbefore the age of 11 yr in 64 boys and 76 girls with non-GHD short stature registered atthe Foundation for Growth Science who have now reached their adult height. In 119untreated boys and 127 untreated girls whose height standard deviation score (SDS) wasbelow –2 SD at the age of 6 yr, height growth was followed until 17 yr. Height SDS wassignificantly lower before GH treatment in the GH-treated group than at the age of 6 yr inthe untreated group, in both sexes. Adult height and adult height SDS were significantlygreater in the untreated group than in the GH-treated group, in both sexes, although thechange in height SDS did not differ significantly. Height SDS was significantly lowerbefore GH treatment in the GH-treated group than at the age of 6 yr in the untreatedgroup, so 57 boys and 57 girls whose height SDS at the age of 6 yr in the untreated groupclosely matched the height SDS before GH treatment in the GH-treated group were chosen forcomparison. Height SDS did not differ significantly between the GH-treated group before GHtreatment and the untreated group at the age of 6 yr, nor were there differences betweenthese subgroups in adult height, adult height SDS, or height SDS change, in either sex.The effect of GH treatment is reported to be dose-dependent and doses over 0.23 mg/kg/weekare reported to be necessary to improve adult height in non-GHD short children. Currently,the GH dose is fixed at 0.175 mg/kg/week in Japan, and we expected to find, and indeedconcluded, that ordinary GH treatment in Japanese, non-GHD short children does not improveadult height. |
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| Keywords: | non-GHD short children GH treatment GH dosage |
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