Effect of human growth hormone treatment on adipose tissue in children.

Body fat and the size and number of adipose cells were determined in 22 children with growth hormone deficiency before and after 6 months of replacement therapy with human growth hormone (HGH). A marked reduction in body fat and adipose cell size was found, and the total number of adipose cells increased at the normal rate during treatment. HGH does not appear to induce catch-up growth in the number of adipose cells.