Decrease of small dense LDL and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 due to human growth hormone treatment in short children with growth hormone deficiency and small for gestational age status

Abstract

Children with GHD or born SGA may benefit from GH by growth acceleration and reduction of cardiovascular long-term risks.

Growth hormone treatment does not to lead to insulin resistance nor excessive rise in IGF‐1 levels, while improving height in patients small for gestational age A long‐term observational study

“…In line with this finding, the BMI was stable during treatment but decreased in the late phase of follow-up. This BMI stability has already been described by Krebs et al 33 centre. This bias was minimized by standardising the values (SDS).…”

What is the evidence for beneficial effects of growth hormone treatment beyond height in short children born small for gestational age? A review of published literature

“…However, in another study after shortterm GH therapy (1 year) no change in total cholesterol, LDL-or HDL-cholesterol, but a significant increase in triglycerides was observed (n = 89) [106]. Decrease in LDL-cholesterol and increase in HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides reported by Krebs and co-workers [126] were accompanied by positive changes, possibly associated with a reduction in cardiovascular risk, in potentially atherogenic parameters, including inflammatory markers and growth factor-related parameters, for example, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [126]. Shortly after stopping GH in adolescents born SGA who had achieved adult height, triglycerides increased and HDL-cholesterol decreased significantly [128]; however, these findings were based on a small group of 21 patients born SGA.…”

“…Findings on the effects of GH therapy on lipids in included studies are summarized in Table 4. In three studies, GH treatment was associated with a decrease in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, and either no change or an increase in HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides (n = 22-79) [109,126,127]. However, in another study after shortterm GH therapy (1 year) no change in total cholesterol, LDL-or HDL-cholesterol, but a significant increase in triglycerides was observed (n = 89) [106].…”

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 activity and low-density lipoprotein subfractions after a 2-year treatment with atorvastatin in adolescents with type 1 diabetes

“…It should be noted, however, that the latter study can only be compared with ours to a limited extent mainly because of completely different study populations and differing baseline LDL-C profiles. Interestingly, however, treatment with human growth hormone led to a significant reduction of sdLDL-C in children with growth hormone deficiency and children with small for gestational age status [34].…”