Somatomedin activity before and after chelation therapy in lead-intoxicated children.

Abstract

Somatomedin activity was measured in 21 lead-intoxicated children to determine whether plumbism interferes with the processes of statural (bone) growth. Somatomedin activity was measured both by the rabbit coastal cartilage bioassay and by radioimmunoassay of somatomedin-C. Compared to values in normal children, both the bioassay and radioimmunoassay somatomedin activity was increased. The degree of body lead burden was so extensive that the 21 study children required chelation therapy. Following EDTA or BAL + EDTA chelation therapy, the overall somatomedin activity of these children with plumbism further increased significantly. In contrast, measures of body lead burden--including blood lead levels--decreased after treatment in all lead-intoxicated youngsters. We conclude that plumbism is associated with increased somatomedin activity. Hence the increased somatomedin activity may explain why clinical experience fails to find any long-term deleterious effect of saturnism on statural (bone) growth. Possible mechanisms underlying the increased somatomedin activity in the lead-intoxicated children remain to be defined.