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Growth hormone effect on body composition in Turner syndrome

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Abstract

This study analyzes the body composition of young adult women with Turner syndrome (TS) either treated or not treated with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) and compares them with a group of healthy women. Fifty-two non-treated TS patients (23.0 ± 5.8 years), 30 treated with rhGH (21.5 ± 1.5 years), and 133 healthy young adult women (22.9 ± 3.2 years) were evaluated regarding height (H) and weight, body mass index (BMI), brachial perimeter and tricipital cutaneous fold (fat and lean areas at the arm), sitting height (SRH = sitting height/H × 100), leg length (leg/H), waist and hip circumferences (waist/hip), and bioimpedance (percentages of water, lean mass, and fat mass). Age at start of rhGH therapy varied from 7.8 to 15.1 years (10.0 ± 1.3 years), duration of treatment from 2.8 to 8.2 years (3.7 ± 1.5 years), and the mean dose was 0.42 mg/kg/w (from 0.32 to 0.50 mg/kg/w). Body composition (except height) did not differ between TS groups, but there were differences when compared to the control group: weight and sitting height were lower in TS patients; and BMI, SHR, and leg/H were higher. There was an association between all groups with regards to BMI, waist, SHR, and leg/H, but not in percentage of fat mass. SHR was positively correlated with BMI, waist, hip, and percentage of fat mass. This sample of TS patients (with and without rhGH therapy) did not differ in BMI or body composition. However, there were differences between patients with TS patients and normal healthy women. Regardless of rhGH therapy, TS patients should be monitored, particularly for sitting height, SHR, leg length, leg/H, and waist/hip.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for providing research fellowship (to GG-Jr) and the Coordination for Higher Level Graduates Improvement (CAPES) for providing doctoral scholarship (to ADB).

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric Endocrinology Unit, Department of Pediatrics and Center for Investigation in Pediatrics, Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM), State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil

    Alexandre Duarte Baldin, Sofia Helena Valente de Lemos-Marini, Maria Tereza Matias Baptista, Lilia Freire Rodrigues D’Souza-Li, Andrea Trevas Maciel-Guerra & Gil Guerra-Junior

  2. Pediatric Endocrinology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine (EPM), Federal University of Sao Paulo (UNIFESP), Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Tatiana Fabbri, Adriana Aparecida Siviero-Miachon & Angela Maria Spinola-Castro

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  1. Alexandre Duarte Baldin
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  2. Tatiana Fabbri
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  3. Adriana Aparecida Siviero-Miachon
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  4. Angela Maria Spinola-Castro
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  5. Sofia Helena Valente de Lemos-Marini
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  6. Maria Tereza Matias Baptista
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  7. Lilia Freire Rodrigues D’Souza-Li
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  8. Andrea Trevas Maciel-Guerra
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  9. Gil Guerra-Junior
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Correspondence to Gil Guerra-Junior.

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Baldin, A.D., Fabbri, T., Siviero-Miachon, A.A. et al. Growth hormone effect on body composition in Turner syndrome. Endocrine 40, 486–491 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-011-9504-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-011-9504-z

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