title: Effect of growth hormone therapy on the proinflammatory cytokine profile in growth hormone-deficient children.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to establish whether growth hormone (GH) treatment in vivo affects pro-inflammatory cytokine production by resting or in vitro, activated, cultured, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from children with complete growth hormone deficiency (GHD). We evaluated 11, pre-pubertal children (6 males and 5 females) with GHD, aged between 6 and 14 years, and 9, age- and sex-matched healthy subjects were studied as controls (CTRLs). Freshly isolated PBMC were cultured for 4 or 24 h in X-VIVO medium in the presence or absence of 0.01 microg/mL lipopolysaccharide for the determination of TNF-alpha and IL-6 production; alternatively, cells were incubated 24 h in X-VIVO medium with or without 25 microg/mL Concanavalin A for IFN-gamma production. Cytokines were measured in the cell supernatants by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. The results of the present study provide evidence that spontaneous and/or mitogen-induced, in vitro PBMC production of pro-inflammatory cytokines is lower in GHD children than in healthy, age-matched individuals (p<0.05 by the Mann-Whitney U-test). After 3 months of GH therapy, cytokine production was significantly (p<0.05 by the Wilcoxon test) increased, but was still lower than in healthy controls. It is reasonable to speculate that severe GH deficiency can cause alterations in the pro-inflammatory cytokine-induced immune response in humans, and that GH treatment can ameliorate this important immunological function.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Pediatriche, Università degli Studi di Pavia, piazzale C. Golgi 2, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pagani
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meazza
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Travaglino
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moretta
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bozzola
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002648:Child; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D003208:Concanavalin A; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D007371:Interferon-gamma