Faculty Collaboration Database

Effect of androgen on growth hormone secretion and growth in boys with short stature. Acta Endocrinol (Copenh) 1979 Jun;91(2):201-12

Date

06/01/1979

Pubmed ID

463446

DOI

10.1530/acta.0.0910201

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0018772904 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   55 Citations

Abstract

The response of plasma growth hormone (GH) to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia (IIH) and arginine infusion (AI) was studied in 22 young males (ages 8 to 17 years) with short atature and absent or delayed sexual maturation, before and after androgen administration. During initial evaluation, 5 patients had blunted GH response to IIH, 12 responded subnormally to AI and 4 failed to respond normally to either stimulus. These same studies were repeated in each patient following androgen administration. The source of androgen was as follows: a) 5 days of testosterone propionate (25 mg intramuscularly daily) in 20 patients. b) Methyltestosterone, 10 mg t.i.d. orally for four days in the other 2 subjects. In almost every case, androgen administration resulted in raising the levels of fasting GH and enhancement of the GH responses to IIH and AI was observed. Patients manifesting subnormal GH responses to these stimuli before androgen consistently demonstrated a normal response when challenged with identical stimuli during androgen administration. Growth velocities during the year following these studies were significantly increased in most instances and the growth spurts correlated well with the progression of sexual maturation. Sustained improvement in the GH responses to IIH and AI were uniformly observed in 3 patients when repetitive studies were performed 8 to 12 months later during spontaneous advancing sexual development. The results indicate that brief androgen administration can be helpful in delineating the cause of growth retardation in boys with short stature and delayed sexual maturation, particularly when the diagnosis of isolated growth hormone deficiency is suspected. They also offer prognostic value in determining growth potential in this same group of young males.

Author List

Martin LG, Grossman MS, Connor TB, Levitsky LL, Clark JW, Camitta FD

Author

Bruce m. Camitta Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Administration, Oral
Adolescent
Arginine
Child
Follow-Up Studies
Growth
Growth Disorders
Growth Hormone
Humans
Injections, Intramuscular
Insulin
Male
Methyltestosterone
Sexual Maturation
Testosterone