J. Feber et al., BODY-COMPOSITION IN CHILDREN RECEIVING RECOMBINANT HUMAN GROWTH-HORMONE AFTER RENAL-TRANSPLANTATION, Kidney international, 54(3), 1998, pp. 951-955
Background. Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) is an anabolic hor
mone promoting protein synthesis in various tissues. Therefore, change
s in body composition may be expected during rhGH treatment. Methods.
We studied changes in body composition during two years of rhGH treatm
ent in 21 children after at least one year with a functioning renal tr
ansplant. The mean +/- SD age was 12.9 +/- 2.5 years at the start of r
hGH therapy. A whole body, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) exa
m was performed before the initiation of rhGH therapy (T0), and was re
peated at one and two year intervals after initiation of the therapy (
T1 and T2, respectively). Results. Lean body mass increased by a media
n of 0.48 SDS during the first year of treatment (P = 0.022), and the
median increase during two years of therapy was 0.36 SDS (P = 0.061).
On the contrary, the median fat body mass decreased by 2.17 SDS during
the T0 to T1 period (P = 0.04) and by 1.99 SDS during the T0 to T2 pe
riod (P = 0.055). The index for fat body mass/lean body mass (FBM/LBM)
decreased by a median of 5.3% during T0 to T1 (P < 0.001), however, a
slower but still significant decrease by a median of 4.2% was noted a
t T2 (P < 0.05). Bone mass content did not change significantly during
rhGH treatment. The medians in caloric and protein intakes were stabl
e during rhGH treatment. Conclusion. A significant increase of lean bo
dy mass and a decrease of fat body mass was noted during rhGH therapy
in children after renal transplantation.