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A Low Starting Dose of Genotropin in Growth Hormone-Deficient Adults¹

Departments of Endocrinology (Y.J., F.R.) and Clinical Chemistry (M.F.), Leiden University Hospital, Leiden, The Netherlands

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Ferdinand Roelfsema, Department of Endocrinology, Leiden University Hospital, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.

We investigated the effect of 12 weeks of recombinant human GH therapy given in three different doses on serum insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) in patients with GH deficiency (GHD). We used low doses of recombinant human GH (Genotropin), as we and others recently found a strong decrease in physiological GH production with age in healthy controls, especially in those older than 30 yr.

Sixty patients with GHD (aged 20–70 yr) were randomized to one of the three dose groups. Group 1 used a dose of 0.6 IU/day for 12 weeks. Group 2 started at a dose of 0.6 IU for 4 weeks followed by 1.2 IU/day for 8 weeks. Group 3 used 0.6 IU for 4 weeks, followed by 1.2 IU/day for 4 weeks and 1.8 IU/day thereafter. IGF-I concentrations (nanomoles per L) were determined by RIA after extraction and purification on ODS-silica columns. The measurement of IGFBP-3 (milligrams per L) was performed by RIA.

The three groups were equal with regard to age, sex, and body mass index. At the start of the study, we found lower levels of both serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 in childhood-onset GHD than in adult-onset GHD. Moreover, there was a gender difference; female GHD patients had lower serum IGF-I levels than male patients. Serum IGF-I levels were low in both childhood-onset and adult-onset GHD. Serum IGFBP-3 levels, however, were low in patients with childhood-onset GHD, but normal in patients with adult-onset GHD. After 12 weeks of treatment, IGF-I levels were low normal in the low dose group and normal in groups 2 and 3 of both adult-onset and childhood-onset GHD. In adult-onset GHD, serum IGFBP-3 increased to high normal levels in all groups, whereas it increased to low normal levels in childhood-onset GHD.

This study demonstrates differences in the biochemical characteristics of childhood-onset and adult-onset GHD. In patients with adult-onset GHD, serum IGFBP-3 levels are not significantly decreased and, therefore, cannot be used as a screening method for GHD or as a dose-finding parameter. GH therapy at doses of 0.6 and 1.2 IU/day in male and female patients, respectively, is, in general, able to increase serum IGF-I into the normal range after 12 weeks of treatment, without reaching supranormal levels of serum IGF-I. This dose could, therefore, be a starting dose in GH-deficient adults.

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