ESPE Abstracts

Background: Isolated Growth Hormone Deficiency (IGHD) is a common endocrinal cause of pediatric short stature. Growth hormone produces most of its actions via insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1) which affected in IGHD. GH can affect body composition via its action on body metabolism.

Objectives: This study aimed to prospectively assess body composition among IGHD group starting GH replacement and after six month of therapy versus control group and its relation to serum IGF1.

Subjects and Methods: forty IGHD subjects (22 males and 18 females) with age mean 11.34±4.03. Auxological anthropometry and biochemical changes including height standard deviation score (HT-SDS), predicted adult height (PAH), age of growth velocity peak ("AGVP), body mass index (BMI), bone age (BA), (IGF-1) and body composition were compared to control group (n=40) at start of growth hormone therapy and after six months.

Results: After six months of GH therapy, there was significant change in body composition with significant increase in free fat mass (FFM), muscle mass (MM) in relation to the increased level of serum IGF-1. While there was significant decrease in BMI, fat mass (FM) compared to control group. There was significant increase in HT-SDS, PAH, AGVP, with no significant increase in bone age compared to control group.

Conclusion: After six months of GH therapy for IGHD children, GH has its effect on body composition mainly muscle mass rather than fat mass with the significant increase of IGF-1 level, PAH and AGVP. Six month of therapy was not significant duration to produce changes on bone age.