COLLAGEN FORMATION AND DEGRADATION INCREASE DURING GROWTH-HORMONE THERAPY IN CHILDREN

A comprehensive set of serum markers of collagen turnover and growth w as investigated in a longitudinal study of short children during growt h induced by growth hormone (hGH) treatment, The study comprised 18 pr epubertal children with short stature who had no other current illness or continuous medication, The growth rates and endogenous GH secretio ns covered a continuum from subnormal to normal, Before treatment, the concentrations of carboxyterminal propeptide of type I procollagen (P ICP), reflecting type I collagen formation, of carboxyterminal telopep tide of type I collagen (ICTP), a degradation product of type I collag en, of aminoterminal propeptide of type III procollagen (PIIINP), a ma rker for type III collagen formation, of alkaline phosphatase (AP), an d of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) were withi n the lower limits of normal, The median IGF-I concentration was lower than the reference. One week after the start of treatment, the serum concentrations of ICTP, PIIINP, and osteocalcin (OC), and the incremen ts in ICTP, PIIINP, and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) correlated wit h the subsequent height velocity, During the 12-month treatment, all m arkers were higher than those of age-matched references, but only the three collagen markers paralleled the changes in height velocity, In m olar concentrations, ICTP increased less than PICP, Throughout the stu dy period, the serum level of ICTP correlated with that of PIIINP, but not with that of PICP, The findings suggest that during hGH treatment , linear body growth is closely associated with collagen formation and degradation. (C) 1997 by Elsevier Science Inc.