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ABSTRACT: Background
Sex steroids influence GH secretion in complex ways.Hypothesis
Analyses in a low sex-steroid milieu will help unveil the effects of age and other nonsteroidal regulators on GH secretion.Context
The study was conducted in a tertiary medical center.Subjects
The study group included 13 healthy young men and 12 healthy older men.Methods
We used GnRH agonist-induced down-regulation of testosterone and estradiol secretion, followed by consecutive infusion of l-arginine and GHRH or GHRP-2, to test secretagogue efficacies.Outcomes
We measured basal and pulsatile GH secretion.Results
During experimental testosterone/estradiol deprivation, older (57 +/- 1.7 yr) men maintained: 1) 6.8-fold less pulsatile GH secretion (P < 0.001); and 2) 2-fold lower maximal GH responses to GHRH (P = 0.0065) and GHRP-2 (P = 0.022) than young (23 +/- 1.1 yr old) individuals. Stepwise forward-selection regression analyses identified: 1) abdominal visceral fat as a dominant negative predictor of both GHRH (R(2) = 0.49; P = 0.001) and GHRP-2 (R(2) = 0.38; P = 0.005) efficacies; and 2) fasting IGF-I concentration as a major positive correlate of GHRH (R(2) = 0.52; P < 0.001) and GHRP-2 (R(2) = 0.31; P = 0.018) efficacies. Unstimulated pulsatile GH secretion was jointly correlated with IGF-I and IGFBP-3 (P = 0.039).Conclusion
Measures of body composition (abdominal visceral fat) and pulsatile GH action (IGF-I) explain up to one half of interindividual variability in the efficacies of GHRH and GHRP-2 in sex steroid-depleted men. Accordingly, normative ranges for maximal single peptide-stimulated GH secretion in short-term hypogonadal states should incorporate the influence of these determinants as well as age.
SUBMITTER: Veldhuis JD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2690428 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism 20090407 6
<h4>Background</h4>Sex steroids influence GH secretion in complex ways.<h4>Hypothesis</h4>Analyses in a low sex-steroid milieu will help unveil the effects of age and other nonsteroidal regulators on GH secretion.<h4>Context</h4>The study was conducted in a tertiary medical center.<h4>Subjects</h4>The study group included 13 healthy young men and 12 healthy older men.<h4>Methods</h4>We used GnRH agonist-induced down-regulation of testosterone and estradiol secretion, followed by consecutive infu ...[more]