Variability in the urinary excretion of growth hormone in children: a comparison with other urinary proteins

1993 ◽  
Vol 138 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Skinner ◽  
P. E. Clayton ◽  
D. A. Price ◽  
G. M. Addison ◽  
C. Y. W. Mui

ABSTRACT As a basis for assessment of the clinical validity of urinary GH (uGH) measurements in children, the day-to-day variability in renal handling of GH has been compared with that of albumin, N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG) and creatinine. Five overnight urine specimens were collected over a 2-week period from 78 healthy children (aged 5–16 years), 20 of normal stature and 58 with growth disorders; ten children were classified as GH-deficient (GHD) and 48 were designated short normal (SN). The variability of excretion of each substance was expressed as a coefficient of variation (C.V.) which was not influenced by expressing the urine results as total mass excreted, concentration, excretion rate or as a ratio to creatinine. There was considerable night-to-night variability in the excretion of all substances (mean C.V. values for all groups: 56% for albumin, 41% for GH, 33% for NAG and 27% for creatinine). No differences were found in the variability of GH excretion between males and females, nor between prepubertal and pubertal subjects. The mean C.V. for uGH excretion ranged from 37% in normal and 35% in SN children to 52% in those with GHD (P <0·05). Assay variation rather than a change in renal protein handling accounted for the large variations in uGH concentrations of <5 pg/ml, thus contributing to the high uGH C.V. of the GHD group. Increasing the number of samples collected (up to five) decreased the expected sample variation (error) for uGH but not significantly and only improved efficiency in the diagnosis of growth disorders from 91 to 95%, while reducing the convenience and practicality of the test. These results indicate that variation in urinary protein excretion over a 2-week period is considerable (albumin>GH>NAG) in both normal children and those with growth disorders. To apply this test to routine clinical management, we recommend comparison of a single overnight uGH measurement with normal ranges derived from age-, sex- and pubertal status-matched children. Journal of Endocrinology (1993) 138, 337–343

2015 ◽  
Vol 05 (01) ◽  
pp. 014-016
Author(s):  
Meril Ann Soman ◽  
Ramakrishna Avadhani ◽  
Rani Nallathamby ◽  
Meera Jacob ◽  
Charly Chacko Joseph

AbstractFingerprint patterns are unique patterns made by friction ridges and furrows present on the pads of finger tips. Uniqueness and persistence are the two underlying features of fingerprint patterns. Aim of this present study was to determine the differences in the incidence of fingerprint patterns in intellectually disabled children compared to normal healthy children. Intellectual disability is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood and is characterized by limitations in both intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior. The present study comprising of 120 students (60 intellectually disabled and 60 controls) was carried out in Pediatrics outpatient department, Yenepoya Medical College and Hospital, Mangalore. The incidence of the four fingerprint patterns (Ulnar loop, Radial loop, Whorls and Arches) were determined in both the groups. Ulnar loop pattern had the highest incidence in both the groups and the least incidence was shown by arch pattern. There exists difference in the frequency of the fingerprint patterns in males and females of both the groups. The study was conducted to observe for any difference in the incidence of fingerprint patterns between intellectually disabled and normal children.


2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tugcin Bora Polat ◽  
Yalim Yalcin ◽  
Celal Akdeniz ◽  
Cenap Zeybek ◽  
Abdullah Erdem ◽  
...  

Background:Disturbances of conduction are well known in the setting of acute rheumatic fever. The aim of this study is to investigate the QT dispersion as seen in the surface electrocardiogram of children with acute rheumatic fever.Methods:QT dispersion was quantitatively evaluated in 88 children with acute rheumatic fever. Patients were divided into two groups based on the absence or presence of carditis. As a control group, we studied 36 healthy children free of any disease, and matched for age with both groups. Repeat echocardiographic examinations were routinely scheduled in all patients at 3 months after the initial attack to study the evolution of valvar lesions.Results:The mean QT dispersion was significantly higher in children with rheumatic carditis. But there was no statistical difference between children without carditis and normal children. Among the children with carditis, the mean dispersion was higher in those with significant valvar regurgitation. Dispersion of greater than 55 milliseconds had a sensitivity of 85%, and specificity of 70%, in predicting rheumatic carditis, while a value of 65 milliseconds or greater had sensitivity of 81% specificity of 85% in predicting severe valvar lesions in acute rheumatic carditis. At follow-up examination, a clear reduction on the QT dispersion was the main finding, reflecting an electrophysiological improvement.Conclusions:These observations suggest that QT dispersion is increased in association with cardiac involvement in children with acute rheumatic fever.


1999 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayumi Ishikawa ◽  
Susumu Yokoya ◽  
Katsuhiko Tachibana ◽  
Yukihiro Hasegawa ◽  
Toshiaki Yasuda ◽  
...  

Twenty-kilodalton human GH (20K), which is one of the human GH (hGH) variants, is thought to be produced by alternative premessenger ribonucleic acid splicing. However, its physiological role is still unclear due to the lack of a specific assay. We have measured serum 20K and 22-kDa hGH (22K) by specific ELISAs to investigate the physiological role of 20K in children. The subjects were 162 normal children, aged 1 month to 20 yr; 12 patients with GH deficiency (GHD), aged 11 months to 13 yr; 57 children with non-GHD short stature, aged 2–17 yr; and 13 girls with Turner’s syndrome, aged 5 months to 15 yr. Samples were collected at random from normal children and were collected after hGH provocative tests and 3-h nocturnal sleep from GHD, non-GHD short stature, and Turner’s syndrome children. The mean basal serum concentrations of 22K and 20K were 2.4 ± 2.8 ng/mL and 152.3 ± 184.0 pg/mL in normal boys and 2.5 ± 3.1 ng/mL and 130.6 ± 171.5 pg/mL in normal girls, respectively. The percentages of 20K (%20K) were 5.8 ± 2.1% and 6.0 ± 3.2% in 83 normal boys and 79 normal girls, respectively. There was no significant difference in %20K either among ages or between the prepubertal stage and the pubertal stage in normal boys and girls. The mean %20K values in basal samples of provocative tests in 12 patients with GHD, non-GHD short stature, and Turner’s syndrome were 6.5 ± 2.4%, 6.5 ± 3.8%, and 5.9 ± 3.2%, respectively. There was no significant difference in %20K among normal children and these growth disorders, and there was no significant difference in %20K throughout the hGH provocative tests and 3-h nocturnal sleep in these growth disorders. There was also no significant correlation between the percentage of 20K and the height sd score or body mass index in either normal children or subjects with these growth disorders. In conclusion, the %20K is constant, regardless of age, sex, puberty, height sd score, body mass index, and GH secretion status. The regulation of serum 20K levels remains to be established.


Author(s):  
G Turner ◽  
R C Brown ◽  
I Weeks ◽  
G E Butler ◽  
F N Creagh ◽  
...  

A sensitive immunochemiluminometric assay with a detection limit of 1 · 1μU/L was developed for the measurement of urinary growth hormone (UGH). The assay was shown to be specific and precise. There was a good correlation between serum growth hormone (GH) and UGH concentrations in 20 patients with acromegaly and six volunteers following an intravenous injection of recombinant GH. We concluded therefore that UGH measurements appear to provide a satisfactory index of GH secretion. The use of the assay in the investigation of growth disorders was assessed. We studied 11 pre-pubertal children, six of normal stature, and five of short stature, over a 6-month period. Sequential fortnightly measurements of UGH were carried out and height velocity was determined. The children of short stature grew at a slower rate and excreted less GH than the children of normal stature. However, we observed considerable within-individual variability in GH excretion in both groups (CV 22–98%). We therefore recommend that sequential UGH analyses should be carried out and the results interpreted in conjunction with growth measurements. However, further investigations into the renal handling of GH are needed to establish optimum sampling regimes.


Pteridines ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 102-107
Author(s):  
Christiana Winkler ◽  
Barbara Frick ◽  
Katharina Schroecksnadel ◽  
Barbara Wirleitner ◽  
Dietmar Fuchs

Abstract Neopterin is a sensitive marker of the activated cellular (= Thl-type) immune response. Neopterin concentrations in healthy children are higher compared with those of adults and are declining with increasing age. In this study, we present a follow-up of urinary neopterin to creatinine concentrations in two healthy children until adolescence. Data were available from one female (7 - 23 years) and her brother (0 - 18 years), of whom early morning urine specimens were collected on an irregular basis throughout 18 years. In total, neopterin and creatinine concentrations were measured by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) in 343 urinary specimens. In both children, concentrations of urinary neopterin were highest at study entry. With increasing age neopterin concentrations decreased continuously to reach rather constant levels around the age of fifteen years. On several occasions at which individuals presented with common sickness, mostly of infectious origin, neopterin concentrations were found highly increased. In the absence of such infectious episodes, neopterin/creatinine measurements of both individuals fit well to previously established normal ranges. However this was true only for specimens collcctcd when children were older than 10 years, before that age concentrations of neopterin were frequently found to be higher than the established upper limits of the normal range.


1990 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Dunger ◽  
Janet A. Perkins ◽  
Terence P. Jowett ◽  
Philip R. Edwards ◽  
Leslie A. Cox ◽  
...  

Abstract. Thyroid hormones are essential for normal pubertal growth, yet the changes in total and, especially, free thyroid hormones and thyroxine-binding globulin during puberty have not been adequately defined. Serum from 39 normal children (20 girls, 19 boys) between the ages of 10 and 15 years were assayed for total T4, free T4, free T3 and thyroxine-binding globulin at 6-monthly intervals; the free hormone assays were valid, non-analogue methodologies. In the girls, free T4 levels fell from 15.7±0.6 pmol/l at 10 years to 13.0±0.6 (p<0.001) at 12.5 years before rising to 15.9±0.7 at 15 years; this nadir occurred at puberty stages 3-4. Changes in total T4 followed a similar pattern with a slight delay in the nadir (13 years, puberty stage 4). In the boys, free T4 fell from 16.3±0.6 pmol/l at 10 years to 14.3±0.3 at 13.5 years, then rising to 15.4±0.5 at 15 years; the nadir again occurred at puberty stages 3-4. The corresponding nadir in total T4 which occurred at puberty stages 4-5 was not apparent by age analysis. Thyroxine-binding globulin concentrations remained unchanged in the girls, but fell slightly in the boys during later puberty. Free T3 concentrations in the girls showed a progressive fall after 12.5 years which was significant by the age of 14 when most had been in puberty stage 5 for more than 1 year. The boys showed no change of free T3 concentration throughout the study. These data demonstrate important differences in the levels of free thyroid hormones in males and females during puberty. Normal ranges for girls and boys between the ages of 9.5 and 15.5 years are presented.


1993 ◽  
Vol 70 (04) ◽  
pp. 595-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Lethagen ◽  
stefan Kling

SummaryThe Simplate II-R and the Simplate Paediatric, are two new Simplate bleeding time devices with retractable blades. In this study we compared the Simplate II-R with the Simplate II bleeding time and found a good correlation when performed by the same technician both in 30 healthy volunteers and in 7 patients with prolonged bleeding time. The same normal ranges may be applied for the Simplate II-R as for the Simplate II bleeding time. The Simplate II-R bleeding time was highly reproducible in healthy volunteers when performed by the same technician. We found no correlation between age and bleeding time, and no significant difference in bleeding time between males and females.We performed the Simplate Paediatric bleeding time test and calculated the normal ranges in 84 healthy children in 4 age groups: 3 days, 3 months, 1 year and 3–6 years of age. The Simplate Paediatric bleeding times were shorter in the children than the Simplate II-R bleeding times in the adults. We found no significant correlation between bleeding time and the inverse platelet count, and no significant difference in bleeding time between boys and girls. The retractable blades in the Simplate II-R and the Simplate Paediatric reduce the risk of accidental cuts. Both devices yield reproducible bleeding time measurements and can be used instead of older Simplate variants.


1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 160-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion L Ahmed ◽  
Alison D Allen ◽  
David B Dunger ◽  
Aidan Macfarlane

Objectives — To develop a method of community based growth assessment. Setting — Oxford District, United Kingdom. Methods — A system of growth surveillance involving a community consultant paediatrician, a paediatric endocrinologist, a clinical auxologist, a project coordinator, and the many primary health care teams was started. Letters and meetings were arranged to introduce the programme to general practitioners and health visitors, emphasising the importance of growth assessment in normal child development. They were asked to measure all children as part of their routine developmental checks at 3 and 4·5 years of age. Community growth assessment clinics staffed by an experienced auxologist were established. Children whose heights were more than two standard deviation (SD) scores below the mean or whose height SD score decreased between the two ages were referred to the clinic. Any child whose height was more than 3 SD scores below the mean was referred directly to the paediatric endocrinologist. Those seen in the community clinics were followed up for a year and if their velocity was >25th centile, karyotype normal, and bone age appropriately delayed, they were discharged to the general practitioner for further follow up. Any child with an annual velocity <25th centile was referred to the endocrinologist. Results — Of 20 338 children monitored, 260 (1·3%) had heights >−2 SD scores. Seventy six were lost to follow up, 35 were measuring errors, 69 were already seeing a paediatrician, leaving 80 children to be evaluated. Of these, 69 were “short normals” and 11 were newly identified diagnoses. Conclusions — This system of secondary referral keeps normal healthy children out of hospital, avoids unnecessary over-investigation, reduces travel and anxiety for families, avoids filling specialist clinics with normal children, and provides an inexpensive system of growth surveillance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Supti Prava Saha ◽  
Monsura Khan ◽  
Ashesh Kumar Chowdhury

Background and objectives: It is well known that children with Down syndrome (DS) suffer from frequent infections. There is an association of certain IgG subclass abnormalities with the predisposition to recurrent infection of the respiratory tract. Therefore, the study was conducted to determine the immunoglobulin G1 and G2 (IgG1, IgG2) profile in children with DS.Material and methods: Forty children between the ages of 6 months to 12 years with DS (47 XX/XY, +21) attending the Department of Immunology, BIRDEM were enrolled in the study. Age and sex matched 30 healthy normal children with 46 XX/XY were included as control. Enrolled DS and healthy children were divided into two age groups namely 6 months to 6 years and 7 years to 12 years. Serum IgG1 and IgG2 concentrations were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.Results: The mean serum IgG1 concentrations of children with DS in both age groups did not differ significantly from that of normal healthy children. But the IgG2 level was significantly less (p<0.003 and p<0.004) in both age groups of children with DS compared to that of control healthy children.Conclusion: The study has demonstrated that the serum IgG2 level was significantly less in children with DS than that of matched normal healthy control children while there was no deficiency of IgG1.IMC J Med Sci 2017; 11(1): 1-4


1991 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 1999-2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Saggese ◽  
G I Baroncelli ◽  
S Bertelloni

Abstract We report the reference values for intact parathyrin (PTH) measured by a two-site immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) during childhood. The study has been carried out in 215 healthy children and adolescents, ages 2.0 to 18.7 years. Some patients with altered mineral homeostasis were also studied to assess the sensitivity of the method in a clinical setting. Mean intact PTH concentrations were 30.8 (SD 9.6) ng/L; the median was 28.5 ng/L. Normal reference values were 16.0-59.0 ng/L (95% confidence interval). The distribution of intact PTH values was nongaussian. We found no significant variations between males and females and no age-related variations. The IRMA used was sufficiently sensitive to detect differences in PTH concentrations between healthy children and patients with hypocalcemia or hypercalcemia.


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