NUTRITIONAL-STATUS AND GROWTH HORMONE-BINDING PROTEIN

To study the effects of nutrition on growth hormone (GH) receptor stat us, the plasma GH-binding protein was evaluated under conditions of po or nutrition, anorexia nervosa, celiac disease, and obesity. Nine pati ents, aged 12-30 years, presented anorexia nervosa and had a mean weig ht loss of -19 % of their initial weight at the time of the study. Ten patients with celiac disease, aged 3-14 years, had a mean height at - 4.2 SD, and normal body weight for height. Fourteen severely obese chi ldren, aged 3-10 years, had a mean body mass index (BMI) of 25.7 +/- 0 .9. GH-binding protein was low in patients with anorexia nervosa (16.8 +/- 1.9% of radioactivity) and in patients with celiac disease (16.1 +/- 2.2%), whereas it was very high in obese children (57.2 +/- 3.3%). A strong correlation was found between GH-binding protein and BMI. GH -binding protein was also correlated with insulin-like growth factor-1 plasma levels. Nutrition is an important regulator of the GH receptor /binding protein. The growth failure presented by undernourished child ren is associated with partial GH resistance and low GH receptor level . On the contrary, children with obesity and normal growth have a high GH receptor level.