Trial of Growth Hormone Therapy in Pediatric Crohn's Disease

The optimal treatment goals in childhood CD include: 1) clinical remission in conjunction with mucosal healing and 2) restoration of normal growth and development. Current therapy in most cases includes induction of remission with corticosteroids followed by maintenance of remission with 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) or mesalamine. With this approach, the goals of achieving mucosal healing with normalization of growth are not achieved in a significant number of children. GH therapy is now used in several chronic childhood diseases which are complicated by growth failure despite adequate GH secretion. These include chronic renal failure (CRF), juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), and Turner's syndrome. However, despite a comparable frequency and magnitude of permanent growth failure, the efficacy of GH therapy in this respect has not yet been determined in a controlled trial for CD. Moreover, whether GH therapy may also directly reduce disease activity and promote intestinal healing is not known. This represents a significant clinically unmet need in this patient population. Therefore, new therapeutic approaches are needed to both improve final adult height and enhance intestinal mucosal healing in children with CD. The primary objective of this study is to determine the effect of growth hormone (GH) therapy upon colon mucosal healing in a 12 week randomized trial in children with Crohn's Disease (CD). Children with active CD will be randomized to GH + prednisone (GP) or prednisone alone (P) for a 12 week period. This study also involves a 52 week extension phase where all participants that meet eligibility will be given the opportunity to take or continue taking growth hormone for 52 weeks.