Abstract
GH deficiency (GHD) results in accumulation of body fat (BF) and decreased lean body mass (LBM). We assessed these parameters during the first 12 months (mo) of GH Rx in 78 short children (mean age 10.7±3.0 yr; 19 with GHD, 48 “short slowly growing” (SSG), and 11 with Turner syndrome (TS)), and during me first 6 mo after discontinuation in 11 adolescents (age mean±sd 15.9±1.3 yr; 5 GHD, 3 SSG, 3 TS). Body composition was assessed at 6 month intervals by Dual Energy X-ray absorptiomeuy (DEXA, LUNAR Corp.), and also by four-site skinfold (SF) measurement. The agreement on %BF by DEXA and SF Icclmiques on 270 children at 410 occasions was high (r2=0.81).
Before Rx, %BF was highest in TS, DEXA %BF with Rx fell at 6 mo (p<0.005, <0.01, <0.2 respectively for each group; response in GHD > SSG & TS (p<0.001)), and remained lower than baseline at 12 mo (see Figure). SF %BF results were similar. Mean fat mass (FM, in kg) declined in all groups at 6 mo (sig. in GHD and SSG). LBM increased by a mean of approximately 2kg/6 mo in all groups (<0.001). Android/gynoid fat ratio (by DEXA, trunk fal/leg fat) increased in me SSG group from 0.64±0.22 to 0.70±0.19 at 6 mo (p<0.01) and 0.76±0.27 at 12 mo (p<0.002), and declined (not sig.) in GHD. In the 11 adolescents ceasing GH, % BF rose from 28.9±14.3 to 32.9±13.6% (p>0.02) over 6 mo (FM increasing by a mean 3.0±2.6 kg). Furthermore, LBM actually fell in 6 subjects.
In conclusion, GH Rx in short children results in decreased % BF (most marked in GHD) and increased LBM. Unfavourable fat distribution changes may occur with Rx in SSG children. Rx withdrawal has detrimental effects on body composition in some it. children over the first 6 mo.
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Ogle, G., Lu, P., Moore, B. et al. BODY COMPOSITION CHANGES DURING AND AFTER GROWTH HORMONE (GH) THERAPY FOR SHORT STATURE. Pediatr Res 33 (Suppl 5), S58 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199305001-00327
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199305001-00327