Neurosecretory dysfunction of growth hormone secretion in thalassemia major

N. Shehadeh, A. Hazani, M. C.J. Rudolf, I. Peleg, A. Benderly, Z. Hochberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

58 Scopus citations

Abstract

The growth retardation of children with thalassemia major is multifactorial. Along the endocrine axis of growth hormone (GH), serum somatomedin has been shown to be deficient and GH response to GH-releasing hormone impaired, while GH response to provocative stimuli is normal. We studied the spontaneous secretion of GH in seven patients with thalassemia major and growth retardation. Three of the patients were hypothyroid, and the other four were euthyroid. Spontaneous secretion of GH in all seven patients was subnormal: the number of pulses, the mean pulse amplitude, and the integrated concentration of GH were all lower than in 14 age- and sex-matched (10 pubertal and 4 prepubertal) control subjects. GH response to provocative stimuli was normal in the euthyroid patients. This pattern of response corresponds with the definition of neurosecretory dysfunction of GH secretion. It is concluded that the growth retardation of patients with thalassemia major is partly due to neurosecretory dysfunction of GH secretion.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)790-795
Number of pages6
JournalActa Paediatrica Scandinavica
Volume79
Issue number8-9
DOIs
StatePublished - 1990
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • growth
  • growth hormone
  • thalassemia

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