Urinary free cortisol values in children under stress.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A L Rosenbloom.
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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this investigation was to study the effect of relatively high dose IGF-I therapy given for several months, on serum levels of IGF-I, IGF-II and IGFBP-3, and on IGF-I pharmacokinetics in patients with growth hormone insensitivity due to GH receptor dysfunction. DESIGN AND PATIENTS: Two adolescent subjects from Ecuador were treated with recombinant IGF-I at a dosage of 120 micrograms/kg s.c. twice daily, in combination with a GnRH analogue for 8 months. MEASUREMENTS: Serum was sampled at baseline and at 3-8 months, for determination of IGF-I, IGF-II and IGFBP-3 by radioimmunoassay, and for evaluation of IGFBPs and IGFBP-3 protease activity by Western ligand blot and protease assay, respectively. RESULTS: Peak serum IGF-I levels ranged from 272 to 492 micrograms/l. Mean serum IGF-II levels were decreased concurrently with the increase in IGF-I. Serum IGFBP-3 levels failed to rise with prolonged IGF-I treatment. There was no apparent change in the half-life of IGF-I during the treatment period. CONCLUSIONS: IGF-I administration does not increase serum levels of IGFBP-3 or significantly alter IGF-I pharmacokinetics.
GH insensitivity due to GH receptor deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive condition, characterized by deletions or mutations of the GH receptor gene. Patients are refractory to both endogenous and exogenous GH, resulting in severe growth retardation. Therapy with recombinant human insulin-like growth factor-I (rhIGF-I) can bypass the defect in the GH receptor and potentially stimulate growth. We previously identified a genetically homogeneous group of patients in southern Ecuador, thus providing a patient base for a controlled clinical trial of rhIGF-I therapy. Seventeen prepubertal patients were entered in a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial. Subjects received either a 12-month course of rhIGF-I (120 micrograms/kg, sc, daily) or 6 months of placebo followed by 6 months of rhIGF-I. Subjects receiving rhIGF-I showed a significant increase in growth rate, which was sustained over the 1-yr course of therapy (from 2.9 +/- 0.6 to 8.6 +/- 0.4 cm/yr). Incidents of hypoglycemia were equal in frequency in the placebo and rhIGF-I groups. One recipient of rhIGF-I developed papilledema, which resolved spontaneously. rhIGF-I therapy did not alter serum IGF-binding protein-3 concentrations. rhIGF-I treatment is effective in stimulating skeletal growth in GH receptor deficiency. Although the therapy proved to be safe, the potent metabolic actions of rhIGF-I and the persistently low levels of serum IGF carrier protein necessitate continued careful observation for side-effects.
Eight different mutations were detected in the growth hormone (GH) receptor gene of patients with inherited GH receptor deficiency (GHRD; Laron syndrome) from five continents. All the mutations are located in the extracellular domain of the receptor and are predicted to cause gross structural abnormalities and non-functional receptor molecules. They include three nucleotide changes in the coding region causing translational stop signals, including the newly identified E183X mutation; two nucleotide changes in introns that affect splice junctions; two dinucleotide deletions that result in stop codons downstream; and one single nucleotide change that activates a donor splice site within an exon and results in a transcript missing 24 nucleotides. This latter mutation (E180splice) was first identified in a cohort of patients with GHRD from southern Ecuador. Based on the fact that the E180splice mutation generates a new cleavage site for the restriction enzyme MnlI, a simple diagnostic test has been developed that can be carried out on dried blood spots collected on filter paper. A total of 55 affected individuals from Ecuador has been found to be homozygous for this mutation. Asymptomatic carriers can also be detected, and 104 of 150 individuals screened were found to be carriers. Using this test, the E180splice mutation has recently been detected in one of two oriental Jewish patients from Israel.
Expression of heterozygosity for the defect in the growth hormone (GH) receptor has been proposed to be reflected in stature, and in GH binding protein (GHBP) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) levels in parents and other relatives of patients with GH receptor deficiency (GHRD; Laron syndrome). The Ecuadorean population with GHRD, in which heterozygosity can be accurately determined in clinically unaffected relatives of probands, offers a unique opportunity to consider this issue. It has previously been demonstrated that 17 parents heterozygous for the Ecuadorean mutation of the GH receptor differed little in biochemical measures (GHBP, IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3) from Ecuadorean controls. Mean height SDS of 24 non-carrier siblings (-1.3 +/- 0.95 SD) and 41 heterozygote siblings or offspring of probands (-1.8 +/- 1.15) did not differ significantly (p = 0.08). Thus, although there may be slight heterozygote expression of the defective gene for the GH receptor, there is no rationale for counselling based on such minimal variation.
Auxological and body composition changes were studied in three adolescent patients (2 female, 1 male) with growth hormone receptor deficiency (GHRD) given insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), 120 micrograms/kg s.c. twice daily, plus a monthly intramuscular injection of 7.5 mg of a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) analogue. Preliminary results from the first 12 months of the study show that height velocity was increased compared with the pretreatment values. This increase was probably due to the IGF-I therapy, as the LHRH analogue would have suppressed gonadotrophins and gonadal steroid production. There was a reduction in percentage body fat, and increases in lean mass and the lean:fat ratio, whole body mineral content and body calcium content, even when expressed per kg body weight. There was also a trend towards increased bone mineral density of the whole skeleton, lumbar spine and femoral structures, as well as a maturation of facial features. These preliminary results indicate that concomitant therapy with IGF-I and an LHRH analogue is safe and efficacious in inducing growth without advancing bone age in patients with GHRD.
Cardiac function was measured in 16 prepubertal Ecuadorean patients with growth hormone receptor deficiency given insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) during part of a clinical trial. The IGF-I was given subcutaneously twice daily at a dose of 40 micrograms/kg on days 1 and 2, 80 micrograms/kg on days 3 and 4, and 120 micrograms/kg thereafter. Heart rate was determined at baseline (pretreatment) and on days 1-7 by repeated palpation of the radial artery and at baseline and on days 2, 4 and 7 by continuous portable Holter monitoring. Heart rate measured by both methods rose progressively with increasing doses of IGF-I. The mean palpated pulse exceeded baseline on each treatment day and was significantly higher on day 5 than day 4 and significantly higher on day 3 than day 2. The mean Holter heart rate was significantly higher on day 4 than on day 2 and significantly higher on day 2 than at baseline. Non-significant glucose and electrolyte changes did not appear to be associated with the cardiac events.
The molecular distribution of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and IGF-II among the IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) was studied before and during IGF-I therapy in Ecuadorean adults with growth hormone receptor deficiency (GHRD). Of the total circulating IGF-I and IGF-II, 70% was carried by the 150 kDa complex in normal subjects, while in patients with GHRD, 50% of serum IGF-I, but only 30-35% of serum IGF-II, was measured within the 150 kDa IGFBP-3 region. Administration of IGF-I altered the concentration of IGF-I and IGF-II, although the percentage of total IGF measured within each IGFBP region was not affected, as the increase in IGF-I and the decrease in IGF-II were proportional. Similarly, serum concentrations of IGFBP-3 and the acid-labile subunit, measured by radioimmunoassay, were unaltered. Thus, administration of IGF-I to patients with GHRD was unable to correct the aberrant distribution of IGFs among the IGFBPs.
Facial morphometry using computerised image analysis was performed on patients with growth hormone receptor deficiency (Laron syndrome) from an inbred population of southern Ecuador. Morphometrics were compared for 49 patients, 70 unaffected relatives, and 14 unrelated persons. Patients with growth hormone receptor deficiency showed significant decreases in measures of vertical facial growth as compared to unaffected relatives and unrelated persons with short stature from other causes. This report validates and quantifies the clinical impression of foreshortened facies in growth hormone receptor deficiency.
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As demonstrated in Table 2, the differential diagnosis of growth hormone insensitivity (GHI) includes a number of discrete disorders that can be broadly classified as primary or secondary forms. We have selected GHRD (Laron syndrome) as the prototypic disorder of GHI, in part because such dramatic and rapid progress has been made in this clinical condition over the last 6 yr. These advances represent the fortunate convergence of: 1) the cloning of the GHR gene and the identification of deletions and mutations of this gene in GHRD; 2) the development of assay methods for measurement of the GHBP, IGF peptides, and binding proteins; 3) the discovery of a larger number of affected individuals than had been previously suspected, including the recognition and description of a large genetically homogeneous population of GHRD patients in Ecuador; and 4) the production of recombinant IGF-I for therapeutic trials in GHRD. Although we are still in the early phases of clinical trials of recombinant hIGF-I in GHRD, preliminary results have been encouraging. Whether this promise translates into genuine improvements in height and body composition, without significant clinical toxicity, remains to be determined. Similarly, the suitability of IGF-I therapy for other, particularly secondary, forms of GHI is still uncertain, although the responsiveness of GHD-IA patients seems to parallel that seen in GHRD (66, 78). The next few years should provide exciting and potentially important new data on the clinical spectrum, biochemical and molecular characteristics, and responsiveness to therapy of syndromes of GHI.
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Six adult patients with growth hormone receptor deficiency (GHRD) (2 men, 4 women) with an identical defect in the growth hormone receptor (GHR) gene, were treated with recombinant human insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), 40 micrograms/kg s.c. twice daily, for 7 days. Serum concentrations of IGF peptide and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) were measured by specific radioimmunoassays; serum IGFBPs were also measured by Western ligand blotting. The size distribution of both IGF-I and IGF-II was measured in serum following size-exclusion fast-performance liquid chromatography. IGF-I treatment resulted in a normalization of serum IGF-I levels on days 1-7 of treatment and a decrease in serum IGF-II levels. The fall in IGF-II levels and the simultaneous rise in IGF-I levels, however, resulted in an unchanged total serum IGF level. The low IGFBP-3 values did not significantly change during treatment, whereas there was a slight increase in IGFBP-2 levels. Preliminary analysis of size-fractionated sera suggested an increase in IGF-I levels in the 40 and 150 kDa regions at the expense of IGF-II levels. The results suggest that despite the failure of IGF-I treatment to increase IGFBPs significantly, serum IGFBP concentrations were sufficient to maintain normal levels of IGF-I.
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We have identified 56 patients with GH receptor deficiency (Laron syndrome) from two provinces in southern Ecuador, one group of 26 (Loja province) with a 4:1 female predominance and 30 patients from neighboring El Oro province with a normal sex ratio. There were no significant differences between the Loja and El Oro populations in stature (-5.3 to -11.5 standard deviation score), other auxologic measures, or in biochemical measures. GH binding protein, the circulating extracellular domain of the GH receptor, was measured by ligand immunofunction assay and found to be comparably low in children and adults. Levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and -II and the GH-dependent IGF binding protein-3 (measured by RIA) were significantly greater, and GH and IGF binding protein-2 levels significantly lower in adults than children. Levels of IGF-I (adults) and IGF binding protein-3 (children and adults) correlated inversely with statural deviation from normal (P < 0.01). School performance was at an exceptionally high level, 41 out of 47 who had attended school being in the top 3 in classes of 15-50 persons.