This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by GELATO, M. C. Articles by MERRIAM, G. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by GELATO, M. C. Articles by MERRIAM, G. R.

Growth Hormone (GH) Responses to GH-Releasing Hormone during Pubertal Development in Normal Boys and Girls: Comparison to Idiopathic Short Stature and GH Deficiency^*

Developmental Endocrinology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Bethesda, Maryland 20892

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to Dr. M. C. Gelato, National Institutes of Health, Building 10, Room 10N262, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

The normal ranges for GH responses to GHreleasing hormone (GHRH) have previously been defined for adult men and women. To determine whether the GHRH responses of normal children differ from those of adults and whether children with GH deficiency (GHD) and children who are growing below the first percentile but are otherwise normal (ISS) have GH responses comparable to those of normal children, we studied 90 normal children, 46 girls and 44 boys, with heights between the 10th and 95th percentiles for age, at different pubertal stages. Their responses were compared to those of 24 children with ISS and 32 children with GHD and to values previously measured in young adult men and women. Girls were grouped by Tanner breast stages and boys by testicular volumes. Plasma somatomedin-C, estradiol or testosterone, and bone age were measured in all children. All received a 1 µg/kg iv bolus dose of GHRH-(1-44)NH₂, and GH responses were measured during a 2-h sampling period. Incremental serum GH responses in girls did not change throughout pubertal development and were similar to those of adult women. The responses in boys at midpuberty were somewhat lower (P < 0.05) than those in either prepubertal boys or adult men. ISS children had mean GH responses [23 ± 4 (±SE) ng/ml] similar to those of normal children. GHD children had significantly lower mean GH responses (11 ± 3.7 ng/ml) than normal prepubertal children (35 ± 4.0 ng/ml; P < 0.01), but the responses of 17 of the 32 GHD children overlapped with the normal range. GH responses to GHRH were not correlated with bone age, weight, height, SmC levels, or estradiol or testosterone concentrations. These results indicate that GH responses to GHRH testing are relatively constant throughout puberty and young adulthood, that ISS children respond normally to GHRH, and that the GHRH test is not a reliable discriminator between individual normal and GHD children. {J Clin Endocrinol Metab 63: 174,1986)

^* Presented in part at the III Human Growth Hormone Symposium, November 1983, and the Journees Internationales Henri-Pierre Klotz d’Endocrinologie Clinique, May 1985.

Received August 26, 1985.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				W. S. Evans, S. M. Anderson, L. T. Hull, P. P. Azimi, C. Y. Bowers, and J. D. Veldhuis Continuous 24-Hour Intravenous Infusion of Recombinant Human Growth Hormone (GH)-Releasing Hormone-(1-44)-Amide Augments Pulsatile, Entropic, and Daily Rhythmic GH Secretion in Postmenopausal Women Equally in the Estrogen-Withdrawn and Estrogen-Supplemented States J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., February 1, 2001; 86(2): 700 - 712. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				E. E. Muller, V. Locatelli, and D. Cocchi Neuroendocrine Control of Growth Hormone Secretion Physiol Rev, April 1, 1999; 79(2): 511 - 607. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. M. Shalet, A. Toogood, A. Rahim, and B. M. D. Brennan The Diagnosis of Growth Hormone Deficiency in Children and Adults Endocr. Rev., April 1, 1998; 19(2): 203 - 223. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				C. Pihoker, G. L. Kearns, D. French, and C. Y. Bowers Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Growth Hormone-Releasing Peptide-2: A Phase I Study in Children J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., April 1, 1998; 83(4): 1168 - 1172. [Abstract] [Full Text]