Does growth hormone therapy benefit body composition and glucose homeostasis in girls with Turner syndrome?

Abstract

Growth hormone therapy is commonly used in girls with Turner syndrome to improve short stature associated with the disease. Concerns have been raised, however, regarding the effect of growth hormone on glucose metabolism. In this Practice Point commentary, I discuss the findings of a cross-sectional study performed by Wooten et al. that evaluated growth hormone treatment in girls with Turner syndrome. The authors found that girls with Turner syndrome who received growth hormone treatment had a lower BMI, less intra-abdominal fat, less subcutaneous abdominal fat, and less total body fat than girls with Turner syndrome who never received growth hormone. Importantly, girls who were treated with growth hormone were less likely to have impaired glucose tolerance than girls who never received growth hormone. Although the results of this study are supportive of the long-term benefits of growth hormone treatment in girls with Turner syndrome, interpretation of these findings should also take into account the limitation that this study was not randomized.