Impaired GH secretion in patients with SHOX deficiency and efficacy of recombinant human GH therapy.

<b><i>Background/Aims:</i></b> Mutations of the short stature homeobox-containing <i>(SHOX)</i> gene on the pseudoautosomal region of the sex chromosomes cause short stature. GH treatment has been recently proposed to improve height in short patients with SHOX deficiency. The aim of this study was to evaluate GH secretion and analyze growth and safety of recombinant human GH (rhGH) therapy in short children and adolescents with SHOX deficiency. <b><i>Patients and Design:</i></b> We studied 16 patients (10 females; 9.7 ± 2.9 years old; height –2.46 ± 0.82 standard deviation score, SDS) with SHOX deficiency. All subjects underwent au…