Synthetic human growth hormone (hGH) is used to replace the growth hormone short fall in people who do not produce enough of their own, or have an inadequate response to that which is produced.

In all cases supplemental growth hormone has to be given on a daily basis, normally as a nightly injection at bedtime in a dose calculated and adjusted for each individual case.

Use in children
Deficient children require hGH supplements throughout childhood.  hGH given to stimulate growth must be administered before the growth plates of the long bones close and prompt treatment can result in the gaining of several extra centimetres of height.

Use in Turner’s syndrome
In Turner’s syndrome large doses of GH often have to be given and this approach has been found to be effective in increasing final height especially in combination with appropriate very-low-dose oestrogen replacement.

Synthetic growth hormone
Growth hormone from human origins (somatotrophin) has now been replaced by an identical peptide (somatropin ) produced using recombinant DNA technology.  This ‘synthetic’ human growth hormone is identical to that produced by, and previously collected from, human sources and can be produced in greater quantities. It is a protein, or peptide chain containing 191 amino acids.

Supplemental hGH cannot be taken orally as being a protein it will be broken down and digested. It therefore has to be injected, but regular injections can be very off-putting, particularly for a child.

The mode of administration can have a strong bearing on the acceptability of treatment and hence ultimate compliance and treatment success.  Improvements to injection devices are constantly being developed to make the process easier and more comfortable for patients.