turner syndrome ( ts ) is the result of complete or partial x chromosome monosomy in a 
 phenotypic female and is associated with short stature , gonadal dysgenesis and a number of 
 congenital morphological abnormalities , with an approximate incidence of 1 in 2,0002,500 
 female live births ( 1,2,3 ) . as for short stature , it is well 
 established that growth hormone ( gh ) therapy is effective in increasing adult height ( 4 , 5 ) . there is , however , no study about the metabolic consequences of gh treatment in japanese 
 girls with ts . the increased prevalence of coronary heart disease in ts has been attributed 
 to ovarian failure , causing loss of the estrogen effect and premature adiposity ( 6 , 7 ) . there is 
 excess cardiovascular death , and this is thought to be due to ischemic heart disease and 
 coronary artery disease derived from metabolic abnormalities in addition to aortic 
 dissection / rupture due to congenital anomalies ( 8) . this is associated with reduced life expectancy of up to 13 yr and increased overall 
 morbidity and mortality , predominantly as a result of cardiovascular complications ( 9 , 10 ) . the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of gh therapy on cholesterol levels 
 in prepubertal patients with ts without estrogen therapy enrolled in the turner syndrome 
 research collaboration ( trc ) in japan . a total of 196 girls with ts were registered in the trc in japan from 2000 through 2004 . of 
 them , eighty - one of these 105 patients , aged 
 10.1  3.6 yr ( range 2.518.5 ) , were prepubertal and had no estrogen replacement . twenty - eight of these 81 girls , aged 7.6  2.6 yr ( range 4.412.1 ) , had complete data for tc 
 before and during 1 , 2 and 3 yr of gh therapy . the tc values of the 81 patients were 
 compared with those of healthy school - aged japanese girls extracted from the large amount of 
 nationwide data provided by the japan association of health service , which carried out a 
 survey from 1993 through 1999 in healthy children , aged 9 to 16 yr , in 19 prefectures out of 
 a total of 47 prefectures in japan ( 11 ) . we also 
 evaluated the effect of gh on tc in 28 patients for 3 yr . they showed no pubertal 
 development and had no estrogen replacement during the entire course of the study . gh was administered by daily subcutaneous injection , 6 or 7 times / wk , with a weekly dose of 
 0.35 mg / kg body weight . responses to gh treatment of tc levels were analyzed by analysis of variance for repeated 
 measures . when the f value was significant ( p<0.05 ) , pairs of time periods of treatment 
 were compared by dunnett s t - test . the turner syndrome research collaboration ( trc ) is an open - label , multicenter , 
 observational study established as a post - marketing research program to evaluate the 
 long - term efficacy and safety of growject gh products ( jcr pharmaceuticals co. , ltd . the trc complies with the requirements of post - marketing surveillance 
 studies in japan . as the trc is a post - marketing research program , jcr pharmaceuticals co. , ltd . is responsible to ensure 
 that data collection and data handling comply with japanese regulatory requirements . informed consent is required for data collection and agreement to anonymous use of the 
 data . tc levels before gh treatment in the 81 patients with ts revealed a significant age - related 
 increase ( fig . 1fig . 1 serum total cholesterol levels of prepubertal girls with turner syndrome without gh 
 treatment . ) that was in contrast to the values in healthy girls , who showed no significant 
 changes and values of approximately 170 mg / dl ( range 167171 ) up to 14 yr of age ( 11 ) . the karyotype distribution in the 28 patients with complete data for tc during the study is 
 shown in table 1 . anthropometric data of this 
 group at baseline and during gh therapy are shown in table 2 . the mean height gain during 3 yr of gh treatment was 17.3 cm , which 
 indicated a significant improvement in the height standard deviation score ( hsds ) of 1.2 
 according to the ts height standard in japan . there were no significant changes in the body 
 mass index in spite of a linear increase in body weight . table 1   distribution of karyotype ( n=28)karyotypen ( % ) 45,x8 ( 28.6)45,x/46 , x , i ( xq)5 ( 17.9)45,x/46,r ( x ) ( p22.3q24)2 ( 7.1)45,x/46,x , idic ( x ) ( p11)2 ( 7.1)45,x/47,xxx2 ( 7.1)others9 ( 32.1 ) 
 table 2   anthropometric data of subjects before and after gh treatment ( n=28)at startafter 1 yrafter 2 yrafter 3 yrage ( yr)7.6  2.68.5  2.69.5  2.610.5  2.7height ( cm)105.7  13.0112.0  12.8 * 117.7  13.0 * 123.0  12.9*hsds0.0  1.00.6  0.9 * 0.9  0.9 * 1.2  0.9*body weight ( kg)19.6  7.221.8  7.4 * 24.3  7.7 * 28.0  9.3*bmi17.0  3.216.9  3.017.1  2.218.0  2.9hsds , height standard deviation score ; bmi , body mass index . * : p<0.01 ( vs at 
 start ) . during gh therapy , tc decreased significantly from 173.7  32.2 to 162.3  29.2 mg / dl after 
 1 yr of treatment and remained low thereafter ( fig . 2 mean serum total cholesterol levels of girls with turner syndrome before and during 
 gh treatment . * : p<0.05 ( comparison with before gh therapy by dunnett s 
 t - test ) . ) . these results were clearly different from the age - related increasing trend of tc at 
 baseline in our ts group .   mean serum total cholesterol levels of girls with turner syndrome before and during 
 gh treatment . * : p<0.05 ( comparison with before gh therapy by dunnett s 
 t - test ) . the present results clearly demonstrated that tc levels in ts tended to rise with 
 chronological age . this result contrasts markedly with the trend in healthy japanese girls , 
 who showed no significant changes in tc and values of approximately 170 mg / dl ( 11 ) . the increasing levels of tc with age in prepubertal 
 ts were improved during 3 yr of gh therapy in our subjects , indicating the favorable impact 
 of gh on atherogenic risk . adults with ts are at increased risk of ischemic coronary heart disease and cardiovascular 
 death due to metabolic abnormalities , such as hyperlipidemia , hypertension , insulin 
 resistance , type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity . epidemiological data indicate that 
 metabolic syndrome is a frequent and cardinal feature in adults with ts ( 6,7,8 ) . it has been reported that in children and adolescents with ts , aged 5 to 14 yr , those in 
 the adolescent group ( 1114.9 yr ) had 25 mg / dl higher levels of tc than in girls before 
 adolescence ( 510.9 yr ) ( 12 ) . adolescent girls with 
 ts , in addition , had significantly elevated tc levels compared with age - matched normal 
 values ( 12 ) . risk factors for arteriosclerotic 
 diseases or a predisposition for the development of such factors may be present early in 
 childhood and adolescence . ovarian failure , resulting in no significant production of 
 estrogen , which lowers lipid levels and has a cardioprotective effect in girls , may be a 
 potential cause of lipid abnormalities in ts . on the other hand , a recent study indicated that up to 50% of adults with ts ( median age 21 
 yr ) who were receiving some form of estrogen replacement therapy and were euthyroid had 
 hypercholesterolemia ( 13 ) . in addition , adult women 
 with ts exhibited a distinctly more atherogenic lipid profile of high ldl cholesterol and 
 triglyceride levels than 46xx women with ovarian failure , suggesting that a factor other 
 than sex steroids contributes to a favorable lipid profile ( 14 ) . in the natural course , patients with ts are prone to have the abnormalities constituting 
 metabolic syndrome , e.g. , obesity , dyslipidemia , hypertension , hyperinsulinemia and type 2 
 diabetes mellitus , resulting in an increased risk of developing coronary artery disease 
 ( 6 , 7 , 15 ) . gh therapy in ts increased lean body mass and 
 decreased adiposity and tc ( 16 , 17 ) , as shown in our study , as well as ldl cholesterol and the 
 atherogenic index ( tc / hdl cholesterol ) ( 18 ) . gh may 
 be an additional cardioprotective factor in ts that is independent of estrogen . as for gh secretory dynamics in ts , previous studies have reported both normal ( 1 , 3 , 19,20,21 ) and insufficient spontaneous and stimulated gh 
 secretion ( 22,23,24,25,26 ) . insufficient secretory dynamics , 
 not deficiency , of gh in ts , which may be due to insufficient estrogen replacement or 
 insufficient secretion of 24-h integrated serum gh , may be an issue to be investigated to 
 clarify which factor contributes to a more favorable lipid profile independent of estrogen 
 effects . in conclusion , this study demonstrated that increasing levels of tc with age in prepubertal 
 girls with ts improved during 3 yr of gh therapy . the favorable change in tc indicates the 
 beneficial impact of gh on atherogenic risk in these patients .
background : patients with turner syndrome ( ts ) are prone to having metabolic 
 abnormalities , such as obesity , dyslipidemia , hypertension , hyperinsulinemia and type 2 
 diabetes mellitus , resulting in increased risks of developing atherosclerotic diseases . 
 objective : to determine the effect of growth hormone ( gh ) therapy on serum cholesterol 
 levels in prepubertal girls with ts enrolled in the turner syndrome research collaboration 
 ( trc ) in japan . 
 patients and methods : eighty - one girls with ts were enrolled in the trc , 
 and their total cholesterol ( tc ) levels before gh therapy were compared with reported 
 levels of healthy school - aged japanese girls . 
 tc levels after 1 , 2 and 3 yr of gh 
 treatment were available for 28 of the 81 patients with ts . 
 gh was administered by daily 
 subcutaneous injections , 6 or 7 times / wk , with a weekly dose of 0.35 mg / kg body weight . 
 results : baseline tc levels revealed an age - related increase in ts that was in contrast to 
 healthy girls showing unchanged levels . during gh therapy , 
 tc decreased significantly 
 after 1 yr of gh treatment and remained low thereafter . 
 conclusions : girls with untreated 
 ts showed an age - related increase in tc that was a striking contrast to healthy girls , who 
 showed unchanged levels . 
 gh therapy in girls with ts brought about a favorable change in 
 tc that indicates the beneficial impact of gh on atherogenic risk .