title: Growth hormone treatment in prepubertal children with celiac disease and growth hormone deficiency.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the growth response to growth hormone (GH) replacement therapy during a gluten-free diet in patients with celiac disease (CD) associated with GH deficiency (GHD).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 14 prepubertal children affected by CD and GHD with no catch-up growth after >/=12 months of gluten-free diet and a reversion to seronegativity for antiendomysium antibodies and 10 age-matched prepubertal children with idiopathic GHD (IGHD) entered the study. All of the patients were treated with the same GH dosage (0.25 mg/kg subcutaneously each week). Height, growth rate, and body mass index were measured at the time of diagnosis of CD, at the time of endocrinological evaluation, and after the first, second, and third year of GH replacement therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Growth rate strikingly increased (P < 0.005) during the first year of therapy in a similar way in subjects with CD/GHD and IGHD (from a median standard deviation score [SDS] of -2.34 to an SDS of 3.25 and from an SDS of -1.29 to an SDS of 2.79, respectively). During the second and third years of GH treatment, the growth rate tended to decrease but the values at the third year were always positive (CD/GHD, median SDS, 1.10; IGHD, median SDS, 0.11), indicating continued catch-up growth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with CD with GH deficiency confirmed after >/=12 months of gluten-free diet, GH replacement therapy should be started to allow complete catch-up growth in children. In addition, the effect of GH treatment in patients who comply with a gluten-free diet seems to be comparable to that observed in children with IGHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Science, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Fondazione IRCCS San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Diletta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giovenale
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meazza
authors.forename: Giuliana M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Cardinale
authors.forename: Edorado
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Farinelli
authors.forename: Costanzo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mastrangelo
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Messini
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Citro
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Del Vecchio
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Di Maio
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Possenti
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bozzola
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height / Q000187:drug effects; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000187:drug effects; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019382:Human Growth Hormone