Abstract
Growth hormone (hGH) responsiveness to exercise and somatomedin C (SmC) activity were measured in 10 children with insulin-deficient diabetes mellitus. Four of the 10 children showed a significant degree of growth retardation. Normal SmC activity was found in association with elevated hGH levels. The hypothesis that growth-retarded diabetics have a failure of Sm production despite high hGH levels (analogous to malnutrition and Laron dwarfism) was not substantiated by this study. Chronic deficiency of insulin, itself a somatomedin, may play a major role in diabetic growth failure.