[Growth Hormone treatment in children with Growth Hormone deficiency, idiopathic short stature, SHOX gene mutation, small for gestational age and Turner syndrome]. / Tratamiento con Hormona de Crecimiento en pacientes con déficit de hormona de crecimiento, talla baja idiopática, mutación gen SHOX, pequeños para edad gestacional y síndrome de Turner.

Growth hormone (GH) is effective in improving height in several conditions. OBJECTIVE: To describe the evolution of a group of children who received GH in a tertiary center between 2012-2022. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Descriptive, retrospective study. We analyzed the impact on height after GH use with Z-score according to etiology, age at onset and bone age. Patients under 15 years old at baseline and receiving GH for at least 12 months, with diagnoses of GH deficiency (GHD), idiopathic short stature (ISS), small for gestational age (SGA), SHOX Haploinsufficiency (SHOX) and Turner syndrome (TS) were included. Height was expressed as Z-score for age and sex, according to NCHS curves. RESULTS: 145 children received GH. Sixty patients were excluded due to irregular administration, incomplete data, less than 12 months of GH, change of hospital, and associated comorbidities. Seventy-three patients were analyzed, 23 GHD, 15 ISS, 20 SGA, 9 SHOX and 6 TS patients. Significant improvement in height (Z-score for age and sex) was observed in SGA (1.4 ± 0.8 gain; p < 0.001), GHD (1.1 ± 1.0; p < 0.001), ISS (1.1 ± 0.8; p < 0.001) and SHOX (0.8 ± 0.7; p = 0.007) patients. In TS, a non-statistically significant improvement was observed (0.7 ± 0.8; p = 0.085). In GHD, onset before 3 years showed a gain of 1.9 ± 1.1, vs 0.7 ± 0.6 (p = 0.083) and in ISS onset with bone age less than 9 years increased it by 1.7 ± 0.5 vs 0.5 ± 0.5 (p < 0.001). ADVERSE EVENTS: 27/73 (37%) headache, 18/73 (24%) lower extremity pain, 1/73 (1.5%) dizziness, 1/73 (1.5%) scoliosis, 1/73 (1.5%) epiphysiolysis and 1/73 (1.5%) craniopharyngioma recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Children with GHD, ISS, SHOX mutation and SGA significantly improved their height, highlighting in GHD and ISS the importance of early treatment. Treatment was well tolerated in the 5 groups analyzed.

Expression levels and DNA methylation profiles of the growth gene SHOX in cartilage tissues and chondrocytes.

All attempts to identify male-specific growth genes in humans have failed. This study aimed to clarify why men are taller than women. Microarray-based transcriptome analysis of the cartilage tissues of four adults and chondrocytes of 12 children showed that the median expression levels of SHOX, a growth gene in the pseudoautosomal region (PAR), were higher in male samples than in female samples. Male-dominant SHOX expression was confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR for 36 cartilage samples. Reduced representation bisulfite sequencing of four cartilage samples revealed sex-biased DNA methylation in the SHOX-flanking regions, and pyrosequencing of 22 cartilage samples confirmed male-dominant DNA methylation at the CpG sites in the SHOX upstream region and exon 6a. DNA methylation indexes of these regions were positively correlated with SHOX expression levels. These results, together with prior findings that PAR genes often exhibit male-dominant expression, imply that the relatively low SHOX expression in female cartilage tissues reflects the partial spread of X chromosome inactivation into PAR. Altogether, this study provides the first indication that sex differences in height are ascribed, at least in part, to the sex-dependent epigenetic regulation of SHOX. Our findings deserve further validation.

[Prenatal diagnosis and phenotypic analysis of two fetuses harboring heterozygous deletions of SHOX gene].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical manifestations of two fetuses harboring heterozygous deletions of the SHOX gene. METHODS: Two pregnant women who had presented at the Prenatal Diagnosis Center of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital respectively on June 24, 2022 and July 27, 2022 were selected as the study subjects. In case 1, prenatal ultrasonography had shown short femur and intrauterine growth retardation of the fetus. Case 2 had a history of spontaneous abortions due to structural chromosomal aberrations. Fetus 1 had undergone a test for the FGFR3 gene, and both fetuses were subjected to single nucleotide polymorphism-based microarray (SNP array) analysis. RESULTS: After excluding the influence of FGFR3 gene variant, fetus 1 was found to harbor a heterozygous 883 kb deletion at Xpter or Ypter, whilst fetus 2 was found to harbor a 5.75 Mb deletion in the Xpter region. Both deletions have encompassed the SHOX gene. The origin of the deletion in fetus 1 was unknown, whilst that in fetus 2 was inherited from its mother. Fetus 1 has been delivered at term with a normal phenotype, and fetus 2 was not born yet. CONCLUSION: The intrauterine and postnatal phenotypes of fetuses may be predicted by combining the ultrasound finding, parental phenotype and results of CMA, and the results can facilitate genetic counseling and decision making over the pregnancy.

Deformidad de Madelung: presentación de un caso / Madelung deformity: case report

La deformidad de Madelung es una alteración poco común de la articulación de las muñecas, con una prevalencia desconocida por los pocos casos reportados hasta la actualidad. Se vincula a mutaciones del gen SHOX. Se caracteriza por presentar alteraciones en el radio, el carpo y el cúbito, con predominio bilateral. Afecta principalmente a pacientes de sexo femenino; los signos y síntomas se revelan al inicio de la adolescencia. Presentamos el caso clínico de una paciente de sexo femenino de 17 años que registra las manifestaciones clínicas y radiográficas características. (AU)

Madelung deformity is a rare alteration of the wrist joint of unknown prevalence due to the few cases reported. It has been linked to SHOX gene mutations. Madelung deformity is characterized by alterations of the radius, carpus and ulna, predominantly bilateral and mainly seen in female patients at the beginning of the adolescence. We report the clinical case of a 17-yearold female patient presenting the characteristic clinical and radiographic deformities. (AU)