The Association of Serum IGF-I, Growth Velocity, Fat Area and Muscle Area after Growth Hormone Treatment in Growth Hormone Deficient Children

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Growth hormone, which is used in growth hormone deficiency, promote anabolic and lipolytic effect through IGF-I on skeletal, muscle, and fat tissue. And so, we studied the association of serum IGF-I, growth velocity, fat area and muscle area after growth hormone treatment in growth hormone deficient children. METHODS: At the department of Pediatrics, Hanyang University Hospital, we measured serum IGF-I, growth velocity, fat area and muscle area before and after growth hormone therapy from 10 patients who were diagnosed as growth hormone deficiency after pharmrcological stimulation tests. We measured IGF-I levels by the radioimmuno assay using Nichol's kit (Nichols Co, USA), circumference and thickness by tapeline and caliper (Holtain Ltd, U.K.), height by Harpenden stadiometer. RESULTS: 1) The mean IGF-I levels of before and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months growth hormone treatment were 72.9, 274.8, 228.7, 287.6, 210.3ng/mL, respectively. 2) The mean growth velocity of before and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months growth hormone treatment were 4.2, 10.79, 11.3, 8.1, 7.4cm/year, respectively 3) The mean arm circumference of before and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months growth hormone treatment were 20, 19.7, 19.5, 21.7 and 21cm respectively, and the mean arm skin thickness of before and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months growth hormone treatment were 14.3, 11.8, 10.5, 12.9 and 13.6mm, respectively. 4) The mean abdominal circumference of before and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months growth hormone treatment were 66.9, 61.7, 58.2, 68.1 and 65.7cm respectively, and the mean abdominal skin thickness of before and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months growth hormone treatment were 16.4, 11.2, 9.9, 14.8 and 16.6mm, respectively. 5) The mean arm muscle area of before and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months growth hormone treatment were 19.6, 20.6, 21.2, 25.1 and 22.6cm2 respectively, and the mean arm fat area of before and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months growth hormone treatment were 12.9, 10.9, 9.7, 9.9 and 13.4cm2, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: After growth hormone therapy in growth hormone deficient children, as IGF-I increase, growth velocity and arm muscle area increased but arm fat area decreased. Thus this study provides for anabolic and lipolytic activity of growth hormone through IGF-I.