Context: Little is known about the relationship between GH and cardiovascular risk markers in women without organic hypothalamic/pituitary disease.

Objective: To determine whether healthy young overweight and obese women, who would be classified as GHD based on standard criteria used in hypopituitarism (peak GH after stimulation with GHRH and arginine < 5 ng/ml), have increased cardiovascular risk markers.

Design: Cross-sectional

Setting: General Clinical Research Center

Study Participants: Forty-five women of reproductive age, mean age 33.1±1.2 years and mean BMI 30.9±1.0 kg/m²

Intervention: None

Main Outcome Measures: Carotid intima-medial thickness (IMT), hsCRP, total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, E-selectin, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, TNF-receptor I, TNF-receptor II, fasting insulin levels, and oral glucose tolerance test

Results: 26% of overweight or obese subjects, and none with BMI <25 kg/m², met criteria for GHD. Subjects who met GHD criteria had a mean BMI of 37.0±1.7 kg/m² (range 28.6 to 43.6 kg/m²), and their mean waist circumference (110.1±3.5 cm) was higher than in overweight/obese women with GH sufficiency (GHS) (p=0.007). Mean IMT, hsCRP, sICAM-1, TNF-receptor I and TNF-receptor II levels were higher, and HDL lower, in women meeting GHD criteria than in GHS. Differences in HDL, hsCRP, and TNF-receptor II remained after controlling for age plus BMI, waist circumference or trunk fat. There were no differences in measures of insulin resistance.

Conclusions: There may be a relative GHD syndrome in overweight and obese women without organic pituitary or hypothalamic disease that confers increased cardiovascular risk, independent of weight.