Acceleration of growth in two children treated with human growth hormone-releasing factor.

Abstract

Two growth hormone-deficient children were treated with growth hormone-releasing factor for six months. The pattern of administration--1 to 3 micrograms per kilogram of body weight, given subcutaneously over one minute every three hours by infusion pump--was chosen to simulate growth hormone secretion in normal children. During the first week of therapy, both children had evidence of the metabolic effects of increased growth hormone secretion--i.e., nitrogen retention, demonstrated by decreased nitrogen excretion (P less than 0.05), and increased urinary calcium excretion (P less than 0.01). Growth hormone secretion was increased after pulses of growth hormone-releasing factor during the entire six-month period, and growth was accelerated. One child grew at a rate of 7.1 cm per year, as compared with 4.6 cm per year before therapy; the other grew at a rate of 13.7 cm per year, as compared with 2.1 cm per year before therapy, and had increased serum levels of somatomedin C. Growth hormone--releasing factor can restore growth hormone secretion and its biologic effects, including an increase in nitrogen retention, an increase in serum somatomedin C, and acceleration of linear growth in children with growth hormone deficiency. It is premature to speculate how useful this agent will prove to be in the treatment of children with growth hormone deficiency.