Measurement of Urinary Growth Hormone

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Abstract
Using pharmacological tests or GH profiles, GH deficiency or active acromegaly can be diagnosed. However, it is impossible to discriminate within the continuum between 'deficiency/insufficiency' and 'sufficient secretion'. The use of GH to improve growth velocity is based on 1 injection once a day. It is thus the total amount of GH which appears to be important for its growth-promoting effect. An assay of GH in urine allows to assess such GH 'production', even over a prolonged period of time. A radiometric two-step assay applicable to untreated urine is presented. Results for assessing the 'GH status' by measuring GH in 24-hour urine, first morning-void urine or timed urine samples are shown. The correlation between 24-hour plasma profiles and the simultaneously collected 24-hour urine is significant at p less than 0.01. A correlation coefficient greater than 0.9 was found between timed urine samples (4 h) and the 120-min plasma GH values during GHRH stimulation tests. The night-to-night variation of urinary GH can be very important. It is advisable, therefore, to use the mean of several night urines. The correlation between the mean urinary GH of 5 nights to one 24-hour sample is significant at p less than 0.01. An age-dependent increase in urinary GH is found in the pubertal age group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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