Effects of Acute Intravenous Injection of Two Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormones (GHRH 1–40 and 1–29) on Serum Growth Hormone and Other Pituitary Hormones in Short Children with Pulsatile Growth Hormone Secretion

Abstract

We administered two different growth hormone-releasing hormones (GHRH) to 20 short, prepubertal children who had spontaneous secretion of growth hormone (GH), assessed from 24-hour GH secretion profiles (72 sampling periods of 20 min). We compared one i.v. injection of 1 µg/kg of GHRH 1–40 with that of GHRH 1–29 regarding serum concentrations of GH, prolactin, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone and IGF-I. The children were allocated to two groups without statistical randomization. Both groups were given both peptides, with at least 1 week in between. The first group started with GHRH 1–40, the other with GHRH 1–29. The peptides both induced an increased serum concentration of GH of the same magnitude: mean maximal peak of 89 ± 12 mU/1 after GHRH 1–40 and 94 ± 10 mU/1 after GHRH 1–29 (n.s.). The mean difference in maximum serum GH concentration in each child after injection was 52 ± 9 mU/1, range 1–153 mU/1. GHRH 1–29 also induced a short-term, small increase in the concentrations of prolactin (p < 0.05), luteinizing hormone (p < 0.01) and follicle-stimulating hormone (p < 0.05). We conclude that the shorter sequence GHRH 1–29, when given in a dose of 1 µg/kg, gives a rise in serum concentration of GH similar to that after the native form GHRH 1–40.

Beyond the androgen receptor: the role of growth hormone secretagogues in the modern management of body composition in hypogonadal males

“…Sermorelin has been employed in both the diagnosis and treatment of GH deficiency although there is limited research on its use in the setting of hypogonadism (23). Gelander et al evaluated the short-term effects of 1 mg sermorelin and GHRH 1-40 injections on GH, IGF-1, prolactin, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and LH levels in short children with pulsatile GH secretion (25). Participants were non-randomly allocated into 2 groups.…”