Growth hormone, also known as somatotropin, is a hormone that originates in the anterior pituitary gland. It triggers the liver to release another hormone called somatomedin, which promotes growth. This polypeptide consists of 191 amino acids. Growth hormone is administered to children with pituitary dwarfism, characterized by short stature due to insufficient anterior pituitary function, to aid their growth. An overproduction of this hormone in children can result in gigantism, while in adults, it can lead to acromegaly.In 2003, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Humatrope, a biosynthesized form of human growth hormone, for long-term treatment of children with idiopathic short stature, or non-growth hormone deficient short stature. According to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the Growth Hormone Research Society, "short stature" is defined as being more than 2 standard deviations below the average height for a child's age and sex, placing them in the shortest 2.3% of children. The new indication, however, limits therapy to children who fall more than 2.25 standard deviations below the mean, representing the shortest 1.2% of children. For instance, for 10-year-old boys and girls, this equates to a height of less than 4' 1". In adulthood, this correlates to heights of less than 5' 3" for men and 4' 11" for women. Clinical trials have shown that the drug can significantly increase the final height of these children.
