GROWTH HORMONE AND PROLACTIN SECRETION AFTER GROWTH HORMONE‐RELEASING HORMONE ADMINISTRATION, IN ANOREXIA NERVOSA PATIENTS, NORMAL CONTROLS AND TAMOXIFEN‐PRETREATED VOLUNTEERS

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Abstract
Anorexia nervosa is associated with several abnormalities in GH secretion elicited by different stimuli. To investigate the precise mechanism of this alteration, GHRH was administered to 14 women: a group of eight anorexia nervosa patients in the acute phase of their illness and a control group of six age-matched volunteers. As patients with anorexia nervosa have chronic low oestrogen values, the volunteer women of the control group underwent a second GHRH test after pretreatment with the oestrogen receptor blocker tamoxifen. GHRH 1-29 (1 .mu.g/kg i.v.) induced a GH peak (mean .+-. SEM) of 28.2 .+-. 5.1 ng/ml (GH ng/ml .times. 2 = mU/l) at 30 min in the anorectic patients. This value was no different from the GHRH-stimulated GH peak in the control women (28.1 .+-. 10.0 ng/ml). Tamoxifen pretreated women had a GH peak after GHRH of 35.6 .+-. 9.7 mg/ml, not significant versus control test. Compared with the control group, oestrogen levels were significantly lower in anorectic patients and higher in tamoxifen-treated women. GHRH administration induced a small PRL peak at 15 min that was similar in the three groups tested. After this 15 min peak, PRL in both anorexic and tamoxifen-treated women returned toward basal values steadily. However, in untreated control women a second PRL peak was evident at 60 min. In conclusion, GHRH-induced GH secretion in anorexia nervosa patients was similar to that in control subjects and in controls under oestrogen receptor blockade.