The usefulness of growth hormone treatment for psychological status in young adult survivors of childhood leukaemia: an open-label study.

Background: To reduce the risk of brain damage children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) are nowadays mainly treated with intrathecal chemotherapy (ITC) instead of central nervous system (CNS) radiation therapy (CRT) to prevent CNS relapse. However, chemotherapy may also lead to cognitive deficits. As growth hormone deficiency (GHD) or impaired growth hormone secretion are frequently found in ALL patients treated with cranial radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy, we hypothesized that GH therapy may reduce cognitive deficits in these patients.

Vitamin K status is associated with childhood bone mineral content.

In adult bone, vitamin K contributes to bone health, probably through its role as co-factor in the carboxylation of osteocalcin. In children, the significance of vitamin K in bone-mass acquisition is less well known. The objective of this longitudinal study was to determine whether biochemical indicators of vitamin K status are related to (gains in) bone mineral content (BMC) and markers of bone metabolism in peripubertal children.

Bone metabolism markers predict increase in bone mass, height and sitting height during puberty depending on the VDR Fok1 genotype.

Objectives: Longitudinal growth and bone mass accumulation are two important phenomena during puberty, resulting in attainment of peak bone mass (PBM) and final height. They are thought to be under strong genetic control, with the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene being among the candidate genes. Bone metabolism markers are reported to be good predictors of longitudinal growth and bone mass increase.

Reproducibility of bone mineral density measurement in daily practice.

Background: Bone mineral density (BMD) measurements are frequently performed repeatedly for each patient. Subsequent BMD measurements allow reproducibility to be assessed.

Objective: To examine the reproducibility of BMD by dual energy x ray absorptiometry (DXA) and to investigate the practical value of different measures of reproducibility in a group of postmenopausal women.