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Dwarfism mutation protects cancer, diabetes

A genetic mutation that causes a type of dwarfism may also protect against cancer and diabetes.

Dwarfism mutation protects cancer, diabetes

A genetic mutation that causes a type of dwarfism may also protect against cancer and diabetes.

Growth hormone, produced by the pituitary gland, is responsible for childhood growth and helps maintain tissues and organs throughout life. The peak of its production is during puberty and it gradually declines as an individual ages. Animal studies have shown the health benefits of blocking growth hormone with researchers achieving a record 40 percent lifespan extension with growth factor deficient mice. Studies have also shown that growth hormone deficiency protects mouse and human cells against some chemical damage thus linking growth factor deficiency to reduced cancer risk. Previous research has found that caloric restriction and fasting also reduce growth hormone activity, although fasting or restriction in particular nutrients for long periods can lead to dangerous conditions including anorexia, reduced blood pressure and immunosuppression. Exactly how growth hormone deficiency might protect a person is not fully understood.

Researchers studied people in a remote community on the slopes of the Andes mountains. Many members of the community have Laron's syndrome, a deficiency in a gene that prevents that body from using growth hormone. For 22 years, the researchers followed about 100 people with Laron's syndrome and 1,600 of their normal-stature relatives. During that time, no one with Laron's syndrome developed diabetes and only one person got cancer, while 5 percent of their relatives were diagnosed with diabetes and 17 percent with cancer.

As other environmental and genetic risk factors were assumed to be the same for both groups, the researchers concluded that, at least for adults past their growing years, growth hormone activity has many downsides. The growth hormone receptor-deficient people did not get two of the major diseases of ageing. They also had a very low incidence of stroke, but the number of deaths from stroke was too small to determine whether it was significant. Overall lifespan for both groups was about the same, with the abnormally short subjects dying more often from substance abuse and accidents. Laron's subjects tended to have very low insulin levels and low insulin resistance, which may explain the absence of diabetes.

In test tube studies, the researchers found that serum from Laron's subjects had a double protective effect: it protected DNA against oxidative damage and mutations but it promoted the suicide of cells that became highly damaged. Human cells exposed to the Laron's serum also showed surprising changes in the activity of genes linked to life extension.

The use of drugs that block growth hormone activity is already approved for treating conditions resulting from excess seretion of growth hormone resulting in gigantism. The study raises the prospect of achieving similar protection in full-grown adults by other means, such as pharmaceuticals or controlled diets.
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