Factors influencing the response to growth hormone in children with renal disease

The effects of age, height velocity over the preceding year, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and prednisolone dose on growth response have been assessed by single and multiple linear regression analysis in 23 prepubertal children [age, mean (SD), 8.2 (2.5) years] with chronic renal failure (CRF) and 16 prepubertal children [12.1 (2.3) years] with renal transplants treated for 1 year with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH), 30 U/m² per week. Height velocity [mean (SD), cm/year increased from 4.7 (1.3) to 9.7 (2.1) (P<0.0001) in the CRF group and 3.1 (1.6) to 7.3 (2.8) (P<0.0001) in the transplant group. In the CRF group, there was a correlation between age and height velocity, both in the pretreatment year (r=–0.755,P<0.0001) and during treatment (r=–0.421,P=0.045). There was no correlation between pretreatment height velocity or GFR and response to rhGH. In the transplanted children height velocity during the treatment year correlated with age (r=–0.647,P=0.007), prednisolone dose (r=–0.689,P=0.003), GFR (r=0.542,P=0.030) and pretreatment height velocity (r=0.655,P=0.006). Multiple regression analysis showed prednisolone dose and age to be the most important predictors of response.