Dexamethasone-Induced Abnormalities in Growth and Bone Metabolism in Piglets Are Partially Attenuated by Growth Hormone with No Synergistic Effect of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I

Dexamethasone (DEX) therapy improves pulmonary compliance in premature infants with chronic lung disease; however, normal growth and bone development are impaired. Because DEX may mediate its effects by altering the GH-IGF-I axis, we investigated whether adjunctive therapy with GH or GH + IGF-I during DEX therapy could attenuate these DEX-induced effects. Piglets were randomized to placebo, oral tapered DEX (0.5, 0.3, and 0.2 mg kg-1 d-1 over …