High-dose growth hormone (GH) treatment in prepubertal GH-deficient children.
Two clinical studies were conducted to determine the effect of different doses of growth hormone (GH) on prepubertal growth in GH-deficient boys. In one study, GH doses of 1.0 and 1.5 IU/kg/week (0.33 and 0.5 mg/kg/week) were given to groups of five children and compared with a conventional Japanese dose of 0.5 IU/kg/week (0.17 mg/kg/week) in 15 children. A significant dose-dependent increase in height velocity occurred in the first year of treatment, but differences between doses were not significant thereafter. In a second study, GH was administered to ten boys at a dose of 0.5 IU/kg/week for the first year, 0.75 IU/kg/week for the second year, 1.0 IU/kg/week for the third year and 0.5 IU/kg/week for the fourth and subsequent years (0.17, 0.25, 0.33 and 0.17 mg/kg/week, respectively). During the second and third years of GH treatment, these boys had significantly higher growth rates than controls, who were given GH at 0.5 IU/kg/week (0.17 mg/kg/week) throughout, indicating successful reduction in 'waning' of the treatment effect. At the end of the fourth year, the different protocols from the two studies had both resulted in a greater height SDS than the controls, and did not advance bone maturation. In conclusion, these protocols may be effective in increasing prepubertal height gain in children with GH deficiency.
Yokoya
S
S
Department of Pediatrics, Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Araki
K
K
Igarashi
Y
Y
Kohno
H
H
Nishi
Y
Y
Hasegawa
Y
Y
Fujita
K
K
Iwatani
N
N
Tachibana
K
K
Ohyama
Y
Y
Seino
Y
Y
Satoh
M
M
Fujieda
K
K
Tanaka
T
T
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001827:Body Height / Q000187:drug effects*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000172:deficiency*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D019382:Human Growth Hormone