OBJECTIVE: To examine the dynamics of bone turnover in children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) during long-term treatment. DESIGN: We longitudinally measured growth velocity and serum concentrations of osteocalcin (OC), carboxyterminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP), and cross-linked carboxyterminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) in 24 patients with GHD during long-term GH treatment until final height (age: 7.7+/-0.7 and 16.9+/-0.5 years at baseline and at final height respectively). RESULTS: At baseline, OC, PICP, and ICTP levels were significantly (P<0.0001) reduced in comparison with prepubertal bone age-matched controls (10.2+/-2.3 microgram/l and 22.5+/-7.6 microgram/l; 187.8+/-26.2 microgram/l and 328. 4+/-74.3 microgram/l; 7.7+/-2.0 microgram/l and 14.2+/-1.3 microgram/l respectively). During the first year of treatment mean levels of the bone markers increased significantly (P<0.0001) with a peak at 12 months. After the first year of treatment, OC and PICP levels progressively declined, whereas ICTP levels remained stable until the final height; in any case, bone marker levels remained significantly higher (P<0.03-P<0.0001) than baseline. The change in bone marker levels at 6 and 12 months of treatment with respect to the baseline values was not related to growth rate during long-term treatment or final height. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that children with GHD have reduced bone turnover at baseline, and that long-term GH treatment is associated with a stimulation of bone turnover. OC, PICP, and ICTP do not predict growth rate during long-term treatment or final height in children with GHD.
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- Author: C. Ceccarelli x
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GI Baroncelli, S Bertelloni, C Ceccarelli, D Cupelli, and G Saggese
E. Martino, L. Bartalena, S. Mariotti, F. Aghini-Lombardi, C. Ceccarelli, F. Lippi, M. Piga, A. Loviselli, L. Braverman, M. Safran, and A. Pinchera
Abstract. Amiodarone, an iodine-rich drug, represents at the present, at least in Europe, one of the most common sources of iodine-induced thyroid dysfunction. The drug may induce both hypothyroidism and thyrotoxicosis. In spite of the large iodine intake occurring during amiodarone therapy, 131I thyroid uptake is detectable in patients with amiodarone-iodine-induced hypothyroidism, irrespective of the presence or absence of underlying thyroid disease. In contrast, in patients with amiodarone-iodine-induced thyrotoxicosis, 131I thyroid uptake is normal or even elevated in those with co-existent underlying thyroid disorders, whereas it is very low in those with an apparently normal thyroid gland. Perchlorate discharge test was performed in 8 patients with hypothyroidism and in 5 patients with hyperthyroidism induced by amiodarone: a positive test was found in all hypothyroid patients and a negative test in all hyperthyroid patients.