Hokken-Koelega A: Effect of discontinuation of growth hormone treatment on risk factors for cardiovascular disease in adolescents born small for gestational age

Hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus type 2, and coronary heart disease have been associated with being born small for ges-tational age (SGA). It has been reported that GH treatment induced higher insulin levels, which has led to concern re-garding the long-term effect of GH treatment in predisposed individuals such as children born SGA. In this study, we as-sessed the effect of discontinuation of long-term GH treatment in 47 adolescents born SGA on oral glucose tolerance tests, blood pressure (BP), and serum lipid levels for two GH dosage groups (3 vs. 6 IU/m2d). At 6 months after discontinuation of GH treatment mean (SD) age was 16.0 (2.1) yr. Mean duration of GH treatment had been 6.9 (1.5) yr. Fasting glucose levels and 120-min area under the curve for glucose 6 months after discontinuation of GH treatment showed no difference from pretreatment levels for both GH dosage groups. After discon