title: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels in short children.
abstract: Growth hormone has been suggested to modulate the release of cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) and interleukin-1 (IL-1). Moreover, TNFalpha synthesis has been shown to be decreased in hypophysectomized rodents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of GH status on TNFalpha levels in a group of 44 short prepubertal children. Among them, 13 children aged 9.8 +/- 3.5 years were growth hormone (GH) deficient and the other 31 short children had normal growth velocity, normal GH response to provocative testing, and did not suffer from any chronic disease, thus this group was diagnosed as having idiopathic short stature (ISS). A group of 40 age- and sex-matched healthy children was used as controls. No significant differences in basal TNFalpha levels (pg/ml) were found between the GH deficient, ISS children and healthy controls. Furthermore, there was no correlation between TNFalpha and basal serum concentrations of GH or peak GH levels after stimulation. Similarly, TNFalpha values did not correlate with either IGF-I or IGFBP-3 serum concentrations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Growth and Development, Children's Hospital P. & A. Kyriakou, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Michalacos
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Karachaliou
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vlachopapadopoulou
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fotinou
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Konstandellou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency*; D006801:Humans; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 / Q000097:blood; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I