Treatment of pituitary dwarfism with methionyl human growth hormone in Japan.
Sixty-two patients with pituitary dwarfism were treated with three different preparations of methionyl hGH (m-hGH) for 3 to 14 months. They were given 0.5 IU/kg/week intramuscularly. The growth rate during treatment with the three different preparations was the same for each and increased from 3.5 +/- 0.9 to 8.2 +/- 1.7 cm/year. A high incidence of hGH antibody formation was observed following the treatment, but the titer of antibody was decreased according to the purity of m-hGH preparations. At the end of 12 month treatment with a highly purified preparation (Somatonorm III), 76.2% of the patients had hGH antibody. However, the presence of antibodies did not affect the growth rate except in one patient. No clinical or laboratory side-effects were observed following the treatment with m-hGH. Thus, m-hGH was considered to be useful for the treatment of GH deficient children.
D000293:Adolescent; D000917:Antibody Formation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004393:Dwarfism, Pituitary / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth / Q000187:drug effects; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D006801:Humans; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male
D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D013006:Growth Hormone