Context: Abdominal obesity is associated with low GH secretion, elevated circulating markers of inflammation, and increased risk of CVD.

Objective: To study the effect of GH treatment on inflammatory markers and vascular adhesion molecules in postmenopausal women with abdominal obesity.

Design: Forty women aged 51-63 yrs received GH (0.67 mg/d) in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 12-month trial. Measurements of inflammatory markers: highly sensitive C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and amyloid polypeptideA (SAA) and markers of endothelial dysfunction: soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin), vascular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), intercellular molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 were performed at baseline, after 6 and 12 months of treatment.

Results: After 12 months, the mean IGF SD score was 0.9 ± 1.5 and - 0.8 ± 0.6 in the GH and placebo groups respectively. GH treatment reduced CRP and IL-6 levels as compared with placebo (p= 0.03 and p = 0.05 respectively), whereas the markers of endothelial dysfunction were unaffected. Within the GH-treated group, a reduction was shown in CRP (4.3 ± 4 to 3.0 ± 3 mg/L; p < 0.05) and in IL-6 (4.4 ± 2 to 3.3 ± 2 ng/L; p < 0.01). In the GH-treated group, the decrease in CRP and IL-6 correlated with a reduction in visceral adipose tissueVAT (r = 0.7; p < 0.001 and r = 0.5; p < 0.05 respectively).

Conclusion: GH-treatment in postmenopausal women with abdominal obesity reduced serum markers of systemic inflammation. Circulating markers of endothelial dysfunction were unaffected by treatment.