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Thyroid hormone, but not parathyroid hormone, partially restores glucocorticoid-induced growth retardation

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Abstract

Growth retardation is a serious side effect of long-term glucocorticoid (GC) treatment. In order to prevent or diminish this deleterious effect, a combination therapy including growth hormone (GH), a stimulator of bone growth, is often recommended. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) and thyroid hormone (T4) are important hormonal regulators of bone growth, and might also be helpful anabolic agents for counteracting the negative effects of GCs. Therefore, we studied the interaction of GCs in combination with a single dose of either PTH or T4 on GC-induced growth retardation. Dexamethasone (Dex) treatment of mice for four weeks induced a significant growth inhibition of body length and weight and weights of several organs. PTH or T4 alone did not affect the normal growth pattern. However, T4 could partially restore the Dex-induced growth inhibition, whereas PTH could not. Although PTH did not affect total body growth, it did affect the height of the proliferative zone, which could be counteracted by Dex. This contrasts with T4 treatment alone or in combination with Dex, which both resulted in a disturbed morphology of the growth plate. IGF-I mRNA, one of the mediators of longitudinal bone growth, was present in proliferative and hypertrophic chondrocytes. However, its expression was not affected by any of the treatments. In conclusion, T4 but not PTH can partially counteract the effects of Dex on general body growth, with possible implications for future treatments of GC-induced growth retardation. Additionally, both T4 and PTH, alone or in combination with Dex, have differential effects on the morphology of the growth plate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases, University Medical Center Utrecht, P.O. Box 85090, 3508 AB, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Sylvia C. van Buul-Offers, Jeske J. Smink, Ria Gresnigt, Nicole Hamers & Joost Koedam

  2. Department of Pediatrics and Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Marcel Karperien

Authors
  1. Sylvia C. van Buul-Offers
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  2. Jeske J. Smink
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  3. Ria Gresnigt
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  4. Nicole Hamers
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  5. Joost Koedam
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  6. Marcel Karperien
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sylvia C. van Buul-Offers.

Additional information

This work was presented in part at the IPNA Seventh Symposium on Growth and Development in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease: The Molecular Basis of Skeletal Growth, 1–3 April 2004, Heidelberg, Germany

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van Buul-Offers, S.C., Smink, J.J., Gresnigt, R. et al. Thyroid hormone, but not parathyroid hormone, partially restores glucocorticoid-induced growth retardation. Pediatr Nephrol 20, 335–341 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-004-1690-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-004-1690-y

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