Abstract
Six male prepubertal children with constitutional growth delay (CGD), and a subnormal growth hormone (GH) response to insulin hypoglycemia, and four normal prepubertal children were given in different occasions 1 μg/Kg iv synthetic hpGRF-40 or a single oral dose of 0.15 mg/m2 clonidine (Clon), an effective growth hormone (GH) secretagogue. In the normal children brisk and clear-cut GH rises were detected in plasma after hpGRF-40 (peak GH levels at 15–30 min) or clonidine (peak GH levels 60–90 min). In CGD children hpGRF-40 induced a biphasic response, e.g. a slight increase in plasma GH at 15 min followed by a delayed and erratic GH rise occurring 45–120 min post-injection. Also the GH response to Clon was sluggish and delayed and peak plasma GH levels were attained only 90–180 min post-drug administration. These data indicate that the CGD children of our study have a defect in the pituitary GH reserve.
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Pintor, C., Puggioni, R., Fanni, V. et al. Growth-hormone releasing factor and clonidine in children with constitutional growth delay. Evidence for defective pituitary growth hormone reserve. J Endocrinol Invest 7, 253–256 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03348434
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03348434