Resistance to growth hormone in children with chronic liver disease

Malnutrition adversely affects mortality and morbidity before and after liver transplantation. Outcome might be improved if liver transplant recipients were in a better nutritional state at the time of transplantation. In this review, we will examine the potential use of GH and IGF-I to improve nutritional status in patients with cirrhosis. Patients with cirrhosis have low circulating IGF-I levels in the face of elevated serum GH concentrations. IGFBP-3 levels are low while IGFBP-1 levels are high. In patients with cirrhosis, IGF-I levels do not increase in response to treatment with GH. Patients with cirrhosis are insensitive to GH, and rhGH treatment is not likely to reverse malnutrition. The pathobiology of GH insentivity may reflect decreased nutritional intake, low GH receptor density, decreased IGF-I half-life and hepatic insensitivity to insulin.