Authors: G Aimaretti G Corneli C Di Somma R Baldelli V Gasco S Rovere G Migliaretti A Colao G Tamburrano G Lombardi E Ghigo F Camanni
Publish Date: 2014/03/18
Volume: 28, Issue: 5, Pages: 247-252
Abstract
To verify if the entity of the peak GH responses to the GHRH+arginine ARG test is able to show different degree forms of GH deficiency GHD we linked these responses with the number of other anterior pituitary deficits These anterior pituitary deficits were also related with IGFI levels To this purpose we studied a large cohort of lean patients with pituitary disease of different etiologies 86 males and 68 females age mean±SEM 415±12 yr body mass index BMI 25 kg/m2 The patients were subdivided into 4 groups according to the increasing number of hormone deficiencies isolated GHD HYPO1 no=28 or GHD plus one two or three additional hormones gonadotrophin ACTH and TSH deficiencies HYPO2 no=20 HYPO3 no=15 HYPO4 no=91 Peak GH responses to the GHRH+ARG test and IGFI levels showed a clear difference among the groups p001 and p0001 respectively A significant difference was found between HYPO1 and HYPO4 for IGFI levels p005 and between HYPO1 and HYPO4 and between HYPO2 and HYPO4 for the GHRH+ARG test p0005 Considering only the patients who underwent both GHRH+ARG test and insulin tolerance test ITT no=70 the pattern of the peak GH responses to the GHRH+ARG test was the same of the whole group of patients while no statistical difference was found with ITT Our data show that the peak GH responses to the GHRH+ARG test and the IGFI levels are linked to the severity of hypopituitarism expressed by the number of increasing anterior pituitary deficits This association is lost if the evaluation of the GH status is performed by the ITT In all the GHRH+ARG test and measurement of IGFI are able to evidence different degrees of GHD in adult patients with pituitary disease
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