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GH treatment fails to influence insulin sensitivity in Turner’s syndrome
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Long-term growth hormone treatment in girls with Turner’s syndrome does not have a negative effect on insulin sensitivity or beta-cell secretory capacity, according to recently published data.
Giorgio Radetti, MD, of the department of pediatrics at Regional Hospital of Bolzano in Italy, and colleagues evaluated 104 girls (mean age, 9.7 years) with Turner’s syndrome to determine the influence of GH treatment on insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion and the ability of beta cells to adapt to changing insulin sensitivity. Participants were followed for a median of 7.2 years.
Participants were given GH at 0.33 mg/kg per week for 7 days, and they attended a regular 6-month auxological follow-up. An oral glucose tolerance test was used to assess glucose tolerance between starting treatment and every year after.
Between the first and last visit, GH treatment produced an increase in height standard deviation scores (SDS; P < .001) and BMI SDS (P < .001).
Impaired glucose tolerance was present in 5.3% of participants at baseline, 6.3% after 1 year of treatment, 5.5% after 2 years, 1.3% after 3 years, 3.4% after 4 years, 1.8% after 5 years, 5% after 6 years and 10.3% after 7 years.
Between the baseline visit and last visit, no significant changes were found for homeostasis model assessment for insulin sensitivity (HOMA-IS), insulinogenic index or oral disposition index.
“I would underline that with this detailed and prolonged study we clarified that a treatment with GH, while significantly improving the final height of these patients, does not have any negative influence on glucose homeostasis, in particular, GH does not cause diabetes,” Radetti told Endocrine Today. “This is a substantial help for doctors taking care of [Turner’s syndrome] patients, since [Turner’s syndrome] girls very often show a tendency toward an impaired glucose tolerance already, before GH treatment. I think that with this paper and the previous literature, no other research regarding glucose homeostasis in [Turner’s syndrome] girls treated with GH is needed.” – by Amber Cox
For more information:
Giorgio Radetti, MD, can be reached at Giorgio.radetti@gmail.com.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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