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Effects of Chronic Growth Hormone Treatment on Energy Intake and Resting Energy Metabolism in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Associated Wasting—A Clinical Research Center Study¹

Division of Endocrinology, San Francisco General Hospital, and the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California 94110

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Kathleen Mulligan, Ph.D., Division of Endocrinology, San Francisco General Hospital, Building 100, Room 321, 1001 Potrero Avenue, San Francisco, California 94110.

In previous studies, treatment with recombinant human GH (rhGH) produced sustained increases in weight and lean body mass (LBM) and decreases in fat mass in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated wasting. To evaluate the effects of chronic rhGH treatment on components of energy balance, we recruited separate subgroups of HIV-positive patients with an involuntary weight loss of 10% or more to undergo paired measurements of resting energy metabolism (n = 6) or food intake (n = 11) before and during the final week of a 3-month rhGH (0.1 mg/kg·day) treatment period. In the energy metabolism subset, resting energy expenditure (REE) and substrate oxidation rates were measured by indirect calorimetry during brief admissions to a metabolic ward. Patients in the energy intake subset prepared written 4-day food intake diaries. Body composition was measured in both groups by bioelectrical impedance analysis.

Changes in weight (+2.2 ± 0.9 and +2.2 ± 0.6 kg), LBM (+3.2 ± 0.6 and +3.8 ± 0.5 kg), and fat (-1.0 ± 0.5 and -1.6 ± 0.5 kg) in the energy metabolism and energy intake subsets, respectively, did not differ between groups and were comparable to changes seen in a larger group of patients who received rhGH in a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled multicenter study. In the energy metabolism subset, REE (+232 ± 69 Cal/day; P = 0.020) and lipid oxidation (+3.1 ± 1.0 Cal/kg LBM·day; P = 0.016) increased, whereas protein oxidation decreased (-1.3 ± 1.0 Cal/kg LBM·day; P = 0.027) during rhGH therapy. These changes in REE and substrate oxidation are comparable to changes we noted previously in a study of the effects of short term rhGH treatment in patients with HIV-associated wasting. Moreover, the sustained increases in lipid oxidation are consistent with the decreases in body fat content that occur with rhGH treatment. In the energy intake subset, a trend for increased daily energy intake (+203 ± 262 Cal; P = 0.456) is obviated when adjustments for changes in weight or LBM are made (+1.3 ± 4.0 and -0.5 ± 5.0 Cal/kg BW and LBM, respectively).

Taken together, these results demonstrate that increases in weight and LBM that occur with chronic rhGH therapy are accompanied by sustained increases in REE and lipid oxidation and decreases in protein oxidation. These changes in body composition occur without a significant increase in energy intake and may, instead, represent a redistribution of body energy stores.

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