Somatropin Shows Promise for Lipid Effects of Growth Hormone Deficiency
Somatropin increased HDL-C levels in patients with GHD at 24 months.
In a poster presented at the AACE 26th Annual Scientific and Clinical Congress, researchers demonstrated that somatropin increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels in patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) at 24 months.
The significant increase, according to the researchers, led by Bradley Scott Miller, MD, PhD, of the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, is considered indicative of a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease.
GHD, a rare disorder caused by a malfunction of the secretions from the pituitary gland, increases the risk for lipid abnormalities such as increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, insulin resistance, increased total cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and impaired cardiac function.
The study, a phase 3b, open-label, multilabel, observational, noncomparative trial, has a planned follow-up period of 5 years and enrolled 98 patients; 42 were new patients (who had not received somatroptin treatment within the preceding 12 months prior to study enrollment), and 56 were switch patients (those who had received growth hormone treatment within the 12 months prior to study enrollment).
At 6 months, the switch patients showed significant increases in triglyceride levels (40.72%; P = .0148). At 24 months, HDL-C values had increased significantly for both the new (19.87%, mean level: 1.47 mmol/L [56.8 mg/dL]; P = .003) and switch (11.06%, mean level, 1.48 mmol/L [57.2. mg/dL]; P = .002) patients.
The poster, titled, “Effects of Somatropin (Recombinant Human Growth Hormone) on Lipid Levels in Adults with Growth Hormone Deficiency: Interim Analysis of an Open-Label, Phase 3b, Multicenter Trial,” was presented at the AACE meeting in Austin, Texas, May 3-7, 2017.
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