Key result
Supraphysiological growth hormone in children is linked to a ~0.1-mm increase in mean cIMT.
Why the study?
There is ongoing discussion whether high doses of growth hormone may lead to cardiovascular diseases, specifically affecting carotid intima-media thickness predictive of atherosclerosis.
Does supraphysiological growth hormone treatment increase carotid intima-media thickness in children compared to physiological doses?
Cohort (n=64)
Does supraphysiological growth hormone treatment increase carotid intima-media thickness in children compared to physiological doses?
Absolute Event Rate: 0.1% vs 0%
p-value: p=0.049
Supraphysiological growth hormone treatment in children does not show robust evidence of clinically significant changes in carotid intima-media thickness over 3 years.
No robust evidence links GH treatment to cIMT changes in children; leaves open IGF-1/IGFBP-3 effects for prospective study.
BACKGROUND: There is an ongoing discussion whether high doses of growth hormone (GH) may lead to cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, we studied the longitudinal relationships between GH treatment and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), which is predictive of the development of atherosclerosis. METHODS: We measured blood pressure, lipids, hemoglobin HbA1c, IGF-1, IGFBP-3, and cIMT in 28 children treated with supraphysiological doses of GH (mean age 9.8 ± 2.2 years, 39% males) and 36 children suffering from GH deficiency (GHD) and treated with physiological doses of GH (mean age 9.7 ± 2.2 years, 72% males) in a longitudinal study over 3 years. RESULTS: The cIMT values did not change significantly in the observation period in children with GHD (Δmaximum and Δmean cIMT 0.0 ± 0.1 mm). The mean (+0.1 ± 0.1 mm) but not the maximum cIMT (0.0 ± 0.1 mm) increased significantly (p = 0.049) in the children treated with supraphysiological doses of GH. Blood pressure, lipids, and HbA1c were not related to cIMT, while IGF-1, IGFBP-3, body mass index expressed as a standard deviation score, and treatment duration correlated significantly with cIMT. CONCLUSIONS: We did not find any robust evidence that GH treatment is associated with changes in cIMT. Further studies are necessary to analyze the impact of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 concentrations on cIMT.
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Rothermel et al. (2017) conducted a cohort in Growth hormone treatment (n=64). Supraphysiological doses of growth hormone vs. Physiological doses of growth hormone was evaluated on Change in mean carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) (p=0.049). Supraphysiological doses of growth hormone in children were associated with a small increase in mean cIMT (+0.1 mm, p=0.049) over 3 years, but there was no robust evidence of overall cIMT changes.
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