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L-Dopa Stimulated Growth Hormone Release in the Blind

¹ Institute of Medical Semeiotics and Constitutional Medicine, University of Naples
² S. Maria della Pace Hospital, 00, RR. di Napoli Naples, Italy

Following L-Dopa administration (single oral dose of 500 mg), plasma Growth hormone (GH) levels significantly rose in 7 out of 8 normal subjects (aged between 64–83) and in 4 out of 8 blind subjects (aged between 60–88). The mean peak ± SE in the 8 normal subjects was 24.9 ± 4.9 ng/ml and in the 8 blind subjects was 11.5 ± 2.8 ng/ml. These findings represent an additional anomaly in pituitary hormone release in the blind and may indicate that dopamine receptors in the hypothalamus are less sensitive to L-Dopa in blind people than in normal subjects.

Received February 9, 1976.

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