INFLUENCE OF LONG TERM GROWTH HORMONE THERAPY ON GLUCOSE TOLERANCE AND INSULIN SECRETION

Daily secretion of growth hormone (GH) in the normal child is unknown and may not be assessable in the near future. The dosage of human growth hormone (HG) commonly used in hypopituitary growth retardation is purely empirical. Growth is in general successfully accelerated by HGH but would presumably be stimulated also by higher than physiological doses. Our study consisted of a longitudinal evaluation of the effects of HGH on glucose tolerance, free fatty acids and immunoreactive insulin in three children with primordial growth retardation and two children with GH deficiency over six to twenty-seven months. Two additional hypopituitary children were studied twelve and eighteen months after onset of HGH therapy. In all patients there was no discernible effect on the parameters studied at the dosage used (HGH (Raben 10 mg/m²/ week in three divided injections). This finding supports the assumption that the dose of HGH commonly used is indeed physiological in regard to carbohydrate metabolism.