Question

Which hormone deficiency is responsible for dwarfism?
A. Somatostatin
B. Thyroxine
C. Somatotropin
D. Mineralocorticoid

Answer 1

Hint: Dwarfism is the state of small stature due to deficiency of “growth hormone” during childhood stage. Growth hormone is produced by anterior pituitary gland.

Complete answer:
We live in a population which is full of variations, among which height is a main characteristic which can differentiate different individuals. Some people have good height or long height and some have small heights and some have a medium range of height. Dwarfism is a state in which a person will have a small height. This may happen due to many reasons but hormone which is responsible for the height of a person is growth hormone.
Now if we talk in more details, Somatotropin is the molecule which is commonly known as growth hormone. Due to under production of Somatotropin In childhood an individual will have small height or small stature and other characteristics of the individual will be normal and the individual will grow healthy except small height.
Thus, we can say deficiency of Somatotropin results in uncontrolled production of growth hormone which will result in gigantism in children and acromegaly in adults.
Talking about option ‘B’ Thyroxine deficiency leads to a condition called Myxedema in adults which can be identified by lethargy, hair loss, overweight, puffed skin, lower body temperature and slow pulse rate.
Next is Somatostatin hormone, this is a growth hormone – inhibiting hormone (GHIH) which helps in regulation of endocrine system and also affects neurotransmitters and cell proliferation through interaction with G protein – coupled receptors and inhibition of many other secondary hormones like insulin and glucagon secretion.
Next given hormone is Mineralocorticoid which helps in regulation of blood pressure. Deficiency of this hormone may lead to Addison’s disease in which patients feel bronzing of skin, distributed glucose metabolism, loss of sodium and water level in blood and ultimately leads to lower blood pressure.

So, after discussing every option available we can say that Somatotropin that is option ‘C’ Is the correct answer.

Note:
If we see functioning of Somatotropin and Somatostatin then we can get confused between the answer but Somatostatin is responsible for production of secondary hormones like insulin secretion and Somatotropin is involved in growth related activities. So, our answer will be Somatotropin.