Normal mutation frequencies of somatic cells in patients receiving growth hormone therapy.
The number of reported cases of malignancy developing in growth hormone (GH) users worldwide has increased to more than 40. However, the causal relationship between GH administration and the occurrence of malignancies is still uncertain. We investigated somatic cell mutation frequencies (Mfs) or variant frequency (Vf) at three gene loci in patients with pituitary dwarfism receiving GH therapy to clarify the genetic effect of GH. Eighty-eight patients receiving GH therapy for at least 3 months and 42 age-matched healthy controls were studied. Mfs at hypoxanthineguanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) and T-cell receptor (TCR) loci in GH users were not significantly higher than in the controls. Although a few patients seemed to have a slightly increased Vf at the glycophorin A (GPA) locus, the difference was not statistically significant. In addition, there was no tendency for the Mfs (Vf) at these loci to increase with the duration of the GH therapy. These data seem to exclude the possibility that GH induces genetic instability in patients with pituitary dwarfism who are receiving GH therapy.
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan.
Y W
YW
Lin
M
M
Kubota
Y
Y
Wakazono
H
H
Hirota
A
A
Okuda
R
R
Bessho
I
I
Usami
A
A
Kataoka
C
C
Yamanaka
Y
Y
Akiyama
K
K
Furusho
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D004393:Dwarfism, Pituitary / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006021:Glycophorins / Q000235:genetics; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007041:Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D007938:Leukemia / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D016296:Mutagenesis; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D006021:Glycophorins; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D013006:Growth Hormone; D007041:Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase