An Attempt to Assess the Replacement Dose of Human Growth Hormone in the Treatment of Growth Hormone Deficient Children

Hibi, I., Tanaka, T., Yano, H., Umezawa, S., Kagawa, J., Tanae, A. and Ishikawa, E. (National Children's Medical Research Center, Tokyo, the National Children's Hospital, Tokyo and the Department of Biochemistry, Miyazaki Medical College, Miyazaki, Japan). Acta Paediatr Scand [Suppl] 337:87, 1987.
In 25 patients with hGH deficiency, who had been treated long-term with hGH, the mode of hGH administration was switched from the conventional method (0.3–0.5 IU/kg/week, in two or three divided doses, intramuscularly) to daily subcutaneous injection at 1900–2100 hours with a dose of 0.46 ± 0.07 IU/kg/week (equivalent to 14.7 ± 2.0 IU/m²/week). After 1–3 months of this new mode of hGH administration, blood and urine were sampled at 0900 hours after overnight fasting. Blood glucose, plasma insulin, plasma IGF-1 and plasma total IGF (after extraction) were analysed in blood samples. IGF-1 and hGH were measured in urine samples. These measurements indicated that the dose studied was close to a replacement one, but might be slightly higher than the exact replacement dose.