Long-Term Efficacy and Safety of Recombinant Human Growth Hormone in Children Born Small for Gestational Age

There is a lack of long-term data on the benefit of growth hormone (GH) treatment in Chinese children born small for gestational age (SGA). This study was conducted to assess the long-term efficacy and safety of GH treatment in children born SGA. One hundred and twenty prepubertal SGA children who did not achieve catch-up growth with height remained less than –2 standard deviations (SD) below gender-specific height were enrolled in this two-year, randomized, dose-comparative study followed by an extension study of up to 10 years. Daily subcutaneous injections of 0.23 mg/kg/week [low-dose (LD) group] or 0.46 mg/kg/week [high-dose (HD) group] somatropin were given for 104 weeks. Dosing in the extension study was≤0.46 mg/kg/week. The main outcome measures were change in height SD score (ΔHT-SDS), height velocity, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, and IGF-1/IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) molar ratio. ΔHT-SDS at week 104 was 0.91±0.53 and 1.52±0.64 in the LD and HD groups (intergroup p<0.0001), respectively, and continued in an upward trend throughout the extension study, remaining above+2 for those who received treatment for a total of 7 years or more. At week 104, significant improvements were observed in height velocity, IGF-1 SDS, and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 molar ratio. Adult HT-SDS was –0.81±1.68 for boys and –0.82±1.05 for girls (p=0.9837). Glucose metabolism and thyroid function were within the normal reference range throughout treatment. Long-term recombinant human GH treatment was tolerable and effective at improving height in children born SGA.