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Effects of Growth Hormone-Releasing Factor on Growth Hormone Secretion in Acromegaly^_*

Developmental Endocrinology and Surgical Neurology Branches, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda Maryland 20205
Developmental Endocrinology and Surgical Neurology Branches, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda Maryland 20205
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia Medical Center Charlottesville, Virginia2290
Division of Endocrinology, Tufts-New England Medical Center Boston, Massachusetts 02111
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center Cincinnati, Ohio 4526
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia Medical Center Charlottesville, Virginia2290
Developmental Endocrinology and Surgical Neurology Branches, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda Maryland 20205
Developmental Endocrinology and Surgical Neurology Branches, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda Maryland 20205
Division of Endocrinology, Tufts-New England Medical Center Boston, Massachusetts 02111
Peptide Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institut San Diego, California 92138
Peptide Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institut San Diego, California 92138
Division of Endocrinology, Tufts-New England Medical Center Boston, Massachusetts 02111
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center Cincinnati, Ohio 4526
Developmental Endocrinology and Surgical Neurology Branches, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda Maryland 20205
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia Medical Center Charlottesville, Virginia2290

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. M. Gelato, Developmental Endocrinology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Building 10, Room 10B09, Bethesda, Maryland 20205.

Twenty-nine patients with acromegaly (8 un treated and 21 previously treated in various ways) and 16 normal men were given iv bolus doses of human pancreatic tumor GH-releasing factor (hpGRF-40). Twenty-five of the 29 patients responded to hpGRF-40 with elevations of plasma GH. The magnitude of the responses varied widely. Responses of untreated patients were generally similar to those of the normal subjects. Previously treated patients had a significantly lower response than normal individuals [change in GH, 7.5 ±1.8 vs. 42.0 ± 11.0 ng/ml (mean ± SEM); P < 0.01], and 4 patients whohad received radiation therapy failed to respond to hpGRF-40. There was no significant correlation between the magnitude of the response and patients' age, sex, baseline GH levels, GH responsiveness of TRH, or GH suppression after oral glucose administration. Patients studied both pre- and postoperatively were responsive to hpGRF-40 at all times tested, but the magnitude of the response decreased after successful surgical removal of the adenoma. Thus,most patients with treated or untreated acromegaly respond to hpGRF-40, but their responses do not clearly distinguish them from normal subjects. GH-releasing hormone testing isunlikely to replace other endocrine tests available for the diagnosis and evaluation of acromegaly.

^_* Presented in part at the XIV Acta Endocrinologica Conference, June 1983, and at the Eastern Division Meeting of the American Federation for Clinical Research, October 1983. This work was sup ported by NIH Grants to M.L.V. (HD-17120), W.S.E. (HD-00439), L.A.F. (AM-30667), S.R. (AM-16684 and Training Grant AM-07039), and M.O.T. (HD-13197 and AM-32632) and General Clinical Research Center grants to the Universities of Cincinnati (RR-0068-20) and Virginia (RR-847).

Received May 11, 1984.

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