Growth Hormone (GH) Provocative Testing Frequently Does Not Reflect Endogenous GH Secretion*

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
GH secretion wasstudied in 73 children with classical GH deficiency or GH neurosecretory dysfunction (GHND), intrinsic short stature, or normal stature. The GH-deficient group wasdefined by a peak GHsecretory response below ≥10 ng/Fml toall provocative tests (arginine, L-dopa, insulin hypoglycemia, and clonidine). GHND wasdefined by a mean serum 24-hGH concentration below 3 ng/ml, with a normal response (≥10 ng/ml) to provocative testing. Twenty-one GH-deficient children, 21children with GHND, and 18short control children underwent provocative GH testing and a 24-hstudy with GH sampling every 20min. Agroup of 13 normal stature control children also underwent 24-h GHsampling. The mean stimulated peak serum GH level [4.7± 0.6 (±SEM) ng/ml] in the GH-deficient group was significantly below that in the GHND (19.5 ± 1.7 ng/ml) and short control groups (24.0± 3.5 ng/ml; P J Clin Endocrinol Metab63: 709, 1986)

This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit: