RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN URINARY HYDROXYPROLINE AND GROWTH*

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Abstract
Total hydroxyproline excretion was determined in normal and hospitalized children, in children with dwarfism, and in patients with acromegaly. Excretion was greater in the 10 to 14-year group of children than in adults. Per unit body surface area, it was greater in all childhood age groups. Children with dwarfism showed decreased excretion of hydroxyproline. Administration of growth hormone to two children with pituitary dwarfism and of thyroid to three children with cretinism induced a prompt rise in excretion. One patient with active acromegaly excreted markedly increased amounts. After irradiation, these excretions fell toward normal. Five patients with clinically inactive acromegaly showed levels elevated in one case, but otherwise in the upper range of normal. Apparently there is a relationship between rate of growth and urinary hydroxyproline excretion, and the increased excretion results from the presence during growth of an increased amount of metabolically, active, soluble collagen in the tissues. The data indicate that measurement of urinary hydroxyproline may provide a useful index of growth activity.