GROWTH HORMONE HYPERRESPONSIVENESS TO GROWTH HORMONE‐RELEASING HORMONE IN PATIENTS WITH SEVERE LIVER CIRRHOSIS

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Patients with severe liver disease often have high baseline plasma GH levels and/ or paradoxical GH release in response to several secretagogues, e.g. TRH. In this paper, we have investigated in a group of cirrhotic patients the GH response to GH‐releasing hormone (GHRH) and evaluated the effectiveness of GHRH to cause GH release in TRH responder and non‐responder patients. Ten patients and seven age‐ and sex‐matched control subjects were given bolus injections of GHRH (01 and 1.0 μg/kg i.v. on separate occasions). GHRH 01 μg/kg failed to cause a GH response in both control and cirrhotic subjects, but 1 ‐0 μg/kg caused a significantly higher GH response in patients than in controls. Evaluation of the GH response curve after GHRH revealed a similar pattern of secretion in the TRH‐responders (four subjects) and non‐responders (six subjects). These results suggest that the enhanced GH responsiveness to GHRH in cirrhotic patients may contribute to their high baseline GH levels and/or secretory rate, and the mechanism(s) of the paradoxical GH rise after TRH seems to be separate from that for GH hyperresponsiveness to GHRH.

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