Humoral and cell-mediated immunity in growth hormone-deficient children: effect of therapy with human growth hormone.

To delineate the role of growth hormone (GH) in the development and function of the immune system, immunological parameters including quantitative immunoglobulins, T and B lymphocytes, phytohemagglutinin lymphoproliferative response and delayed hypersensitivity skin tests were studied in nine GH-deficient children prior to GH therapy and at 2 months and 9 to 12 months following therapy. The phytohemagglutinin response (74.1 +/- 37.6, mean +/- SD), and the T rosette (58.3% +/- 9.4), B rosette (21.1% +/- 6.1), IgG (810 +/- 241 mg/dl), (IgA 140 +/- 85), and IgM (176 +/- 70) levels in GH-deficient children were comparable to age adjusted values in normal children. Following GH therapy the phytohemagglutinin response increased significantly at 9 to 12 months post-therapy, 123.2 +/- 51.9 versus 74.1 +/- 37.6, p less than 0.05. T and B rosettes, immunoglobulin concentrations, and hypersensitivity skin tests were not affected by GH therapy. Although an effect of GH was not demonstrable by these studies, a positive role of GH cannot be entirely excluded since total GH deficiency did not exist in all children.