Pharm

Growth Hormone Replacement

search

Growth Hormone Replacement, hGH, Somatropin, Recombinant Human Growth Hormone

  • See Also
  1. Growth Hormone
  2. Short Stature
  • Indications
  1. Medical Uses: Enhances growth in Short Stature
    1. See Short Stature
    2. Growth Hormone Deficiency
    3. Turner Syndrome
    4. Chronic Renal Failure
    5. Prader-Willi Syndrome
    6. Small for Gestational Age
    7. Noonan Syndrome
    8. Short Stature homeobox-containing gene deficiency (SHOX)
    9. Idiopathic Short Stature
    10. Small for Gestational Age infant (or IUGR) with failed catch up growth by age 2 years
  2. Illicit uses
    1. Ergogenic Aid used by athletes
    2. Similar effect as with Anabolic Steroids
      1. Difficult to detect
      2. Expensive (>$1000/month)
  • Medications
  1. Initially derived from cadavers in 1950's
    1. Transmitted Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease to patients
  2. Now produced by recombinant Genetics
    1. Genentech developed Somatrem (Protropin) in 1990s
  • Dosing
  1. Available only via injection (cost $25,000/year in 2025)
  • Adverse Effects
  1. Acromegaly
  2. Glucose Intolerance or Diabetes Mellitus
  3. Headache
  4. Myalgias
    1. Growth-Hormone induced Myopathy
    2. Muscles hypertrophy, but are weaker than before treatment
  5. Cardiovascular
    1. Peripheral Edema
    2. Cardiomyopathy
    3. Congestive Heart Failure
  6. Other associations
    1. May be related to Leukemia development
    2. Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis
    3. Scoliosis
  • Efficacy
  1. When used in children with Short Stature (and appropriate indications)
    1. Expect 4 to 9 cm mean height growth (1.6 to 3.5 inches)
    2. Rogol (2022) Horm Res Paediatr 95(6): 515-28 [PubMed]
  • Resources
  1. Genotropin- Somatropin kit (DailyMed)
    1. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=ffebf88b-d257-4542-9808-74d9b7167765