Short-term growth hormone therapy increases serum lipoprotein (a) levels in normal short children without growth hormone deficiency.

We investigated the short-term effect of GH (0.1 IU/kg/day) on serum lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] in 8 normal short children aged 6-12 years. GH increased serum Lp(a) concentrations in all the children studied. An increase to 107 +/- 5, 161.6 +/- 14.7 and 152.5 +/- 18.5% (mean +/- SE) of baseline levels was observed after 2 (p = NS), 6 (p < 0.01) and 12 weeks (p < 0.05), respectively. Our results suggest that GH therapy may pose a significant influence on Lp(a) serum levels in non-GH-deficient short children.