Molecular diagnosis and endocrine evaluation of a patient with a homozygous 7.0 kb deletion of the growth hormone (GH) gene cluster: response to biosynthetic GH therapy.

A significant proportion of cases of GH deficiency (5-30%) may be due to genetic causes. At least four Mendelian types of isolated GH deficiency (IGHD) have been delineated based on the mode of inheritance and the degree of GH deficiency, with IGHD type IA being the most severe. A 2 year-old girl, the second child of consanguineous parents, with short stature was diagnosed with IGHD type IA. The analysis of the genomic DNA of this patient, performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the flanking regions of the GH-1 gene, showed a homozygous deletion of 7.0 kb of sequence including the GH-1 gene. She was treated with biosynthetic GH resulting in long-lasting catch-up growth during at least three years, despite a clinically irrelevant appearance of low binding capacity GH antibodies. Growth hormone-binding protein (GHBP) levels were normal at the time of diagnosis. In addition, GHBP plasma levels did not show any significant change during the three years of therapy with GH. Diagnosis of carrier status in family relatives was done by genotyping GH gene alleles by PCR amplification from blood spots on filter paper.