Thyroid hormone, but not parathyroid hormone, partially restores glucocorticoid-induced growth retardation.

Growth retardation is a serious side effect of long-term glucocorticoid (GC) treatment. In order to prevent or diminish this deleterious effect, a combination therapy including growth hormone (GH), a stimulator of bone growth, is often recommended. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) and thyroid hormone (T4) are important hormonal regulators of bone growth, and might also be helpful anabolic agents for counteracting the negative effects of GCs. Therefore, we studied the interaction of GCs in combination with a single dose of either PTH or T4 on GC-induced growth retardation. Dexamethasone (Dex) treatment of mice for four weeks induced a significant growth inhibition of body length and weight and weights of several organs. PTH or T4 alone did not affect the normal growth pattern. However, T4 could partially restore the Dex-induced growth inhibition, whereas PTH could not. Although PTH did not affect total body growth, it did affect the height of the proliferative zone, which could be counteracted by Dex. This contrasts with T4 treatment alone or in combination with Dex, which both resulted in a disturbed morphology of the growth plate. IGF-I mRNA, one of the mediators of longitudinal bone growth, was present in proliferative and hypertrophic chondrocytes. However, its expression was not affected by any of the treatments. In conclusion, T4 but not PTH can partially counteract the effects of Dex on general body growth, with possible implications for future treatments of GC-induced growth retardation. Additionally, both T4 and PTH, alone or in combination with Dex, have differential effects on the morphology of the growth plate.