Nutritional Modulation of the Growth Hormone–IGF-1 Axis in Children: Implications for Growth and Metabolic Health
A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2026 | Viewed by 64
Special Issue Editor
Interests: growth hormone (GH) deficiency; GH insensitivity; GH therapy; insulin-like growth factors (IGF); IGF binding proteins; intrauterine growth retardation; fetal programming; personalized medicine; artificial neural networks; prediction models
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Both growth hormone (GH) secretion and IGF-1 concentrations may be affected by several factors. Blunted GH response in stimulation tests in obese patients is well documented, with less evidence for IGF-1 concentrations. Undernutrition is related to increased GH with low IGF-1 levels. Childhood obesity may be considered a 21st century pandemic. Also quantitative and especially qualitative malnutrition continues to be a problem among children and adolescents.
GH excessis a rare condition in pediatric population; however, there is a need for further studies on different aspects of tall stature, including these related to nutritional status.
Both GH deficiency and GH excess have unfavorable metabolic effects.
Recently, there is increasing nowledge about modulators of somatotropic axis activity. Some of them are directly related to nutritional status. Ghrelin is the common regulator of appetite and GH secretion. Insulin has been recoginsed as one of the key modulators of the GH–IGF-1 axis.
There are also some diseases in which regulation of both somatotropic axis and metabolism may be disturbed, e.g., intrauterine growth retardation, Prader-Willi syndrome, mitochondrial diseases.
Maternal nutrition during pregnancy not only affects the size of fetus but also determines the growth of children after birth by epigenetic programming.
The purpose of this Special Issue “Nutritional Modulation of the Growth Hormone–IGF-1 Axis in Children: Implications for Growth and Metabolic Health” is to collect most recent evidence on complex effects of nutritional status on the GH–IGF-1 axis in children and on related clinical problems, including but not limited to: personalized approach to diagnosing GHD, effectiveness and safety of GH therapy (especially in the context of metabolic health), relationships between nutritional status and particular components of the GH–IGF-1 axis in physiological and pathological conditions, with particular attention to metabolic health. Studies on the genetic and epigenetic aspects of these issues are particularly welcome.
Researchers are invited to submit their original works and literature reviews on the discussed topics and other related problems that will be of interest to basic scientists and clinicians.
Dr. Joanna Smyczyńska
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- growth hormone (GH)
- insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)
- nutritional status
- GH deficiency
- GH therapy
- short stature
- obesity
- undernutrition
- intrauterine growth restriction
- insulin
- insulin sensitivity
- lipid profile
- fatty liver disease
- diabetes mellitus
- metabolic health
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