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Collaborative Study of the Effects of Human Growth Hormone in Growth Hormone Deficiency. II. Development and Significance of Antibodies to Human Growth Hormone During the First Year of Therapy

Department of Pediatrics, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center Los Angeles, California
Department of Pediatrics, State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo, New York
Section of Pediatrics, Mayo School of Medicine Rochester, Minnesota
Department of Medicine, Washington University St. Louis, Missouri

Address for reprints: S. D. Frasier, M.D., Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, 1129 North State Street, Los Angeles, California 90033.

Fifty-eight serum samples from 71 growth hormone deficient patients treated for 1 yr with Raben and/or Wilhelmi human growth hormone (hGH) were tested for binding antibodies to hGH. The sera of 35 patients (60.3%) were positive for binding antibodies. The growth rate of patients with antibodies (8.3 ± 3.3 SD cm/1 yr) was not different than that of patients without antibodies (8.2 ± 3.8 SD cm/1 yr). The incidence of a response <5.0 cm/1 yr was no greater in patients with antibodies. Binding antibody titrations were performed in 27 sera, and the maximum titer observed was 1:640 in a single serum. There was no correlation between binding antibody titer and response to therapy. No hemagglutinating antibodies to hGH were detectable in the 17 sera tested. These observations indicate that while binding antibodies to hGH develop with high frequency, they do not play a significant role in modifying the response to an initial year of hGH therapy in growth hormone-deficient patients.

Supported by the Human Growth Foundation, Ricky Morehouse Fund, Himmelfarb Foundation, the Variety Club of Buffalo, Inc.; Trans-World Air Lines Clipped Wings International; the Mercer Club of Buffalo, Inc.; G. D. Searle and Co.; and USPHS General Research Support Grant PR (5466) (Professional Staff Association of Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center Project 8-142-03).

Data from this study previously presented to the IV International Congress of Endocrinology (Abstract #94), Washington, D.C., June, 1972.

Received March 12, 1973.

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