Effect of one-year growth hormone therapy on body composition and cardio-metabolic risk in Indian children with growth hormone deficiency

Growth hormone (GH) deficiency in children manifests as short stature but is also associated with metabolic disturbances. Paucity of GH is also likely to be associated with increased intima media thickness. Data on body composition (BC) and carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) in children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) from developing countries are very scarce. Therefore, objectives of present study were to assess effect of 1 year of rhGH therapy on (i) BC and lipid profile (LP) in a cohort of Indian GHD children and (ii) effect on atherosclerotic markers - cIMT in subsample. Anthropometry, BC [% body fat (BF), % lean body mass (LBM), bone mineral content (BMC)] (DXA) and LP were measured in 49 pre-pubertal GHD-children (9.3 +/- 3.1 years) at baseline and after 1 year of rhGH therapy. On subset of 20 children, cIMT of right common carotid artery was also measured. Baseline BC parameters were compared with age-gender matched healthy controls (n = 49). At baseline % BF was 23 +/- 9 %, LBM was 9 +/- 3 kg and BMC was 0.306 +/- 0.15 kg in GHD- children; BF was comparable, while lean and bone were less than controls (p < 0.05). Post therapy, significant reduction in fat (15%), and cIMT (7%) and increase in LBM and BMC by 40% and 44%, respectively (p < 0.05) was seen. Our cohort of untreated GHD children had abnormal BC and cIMT as compared to controls. rhGH therapy for 1 year had beneficial effect on BC and cardiovascular risk factors.