Urinary growth hormone excretion in acromegaly: diagnostic value in mild disease activity

1993 ◽  
Vol 129 (5) ◽  
pp. 409-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina M Main ◽  
Jörgen Lindholm ◽  
Mark Vandeweghe ◽  
Niels E Skakkebaek

The biochemical assessment of disease activity in acromegaly still presents a problem, especially in treated patients with mild clinical symptoms. We therefore examined the diagnostic value of the measurement of urinary growth hormone (GH) excretion in seventy unselected patients with acromegaly of different activity by comparing it to serum GH, serum insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and clinical activity. There were highly significant, positive correlations between urinary GH and serum GH, serum IGF-I as well as clinical activity score (p<0.00005), although some overlap between the groups was observed. In seven patients with low serum GH values (<2.0 μg/l) discordant results were found. Two of the seven patients were clinically mildly active, but only IGF-I was either elevated or within the upper normal range; in three other patients who appeared clinically cured either IGF-I (N = 1) or urinary GH (n = 2) alone were increased. In the remaining two patients elevated serum IGF-I and urinary GH as well as activity score suggested disease activity. Thus, in the majority of cases, urinary GH was significantly correlated to the other three parameters, but added little information to that obtained by serum IGF-I. In conclusion, urinary GH measurements in difficult cases may provide a more direct information on the GH status than IGF-I.

1996 ◽  
Vol 271 (2) ◽  
pp. E223-E231 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Goya ◽  
F. Rivero ◽  
M. A. Martin ◽  
R. Arahuetes ◽  
E. R. Hernandez ◽  
...  

The effect of refeeding and insulin treatment of undernourished and diabetic neonatal rats, respectively, on the regulation of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) was investigated. The changes in body weight, insulinemia, glycemia, serum IGF-I, and growth hormone (GH) as well as the increase of the 30-kDa IGFBP in undernourished and diabetic neonatal rats previously shown elsewhere were reversed by refeeding and insulin treatment, respectively. Also, changes in liver mRNA expression of IGF-I and-II and IGFBP-1 and -2 were restored in refed undernourished and IGF-I and IGFBP-1 levels recovered in insulin-treated diabetic rats. However, serum GH was still below normal after rehabilitation in both situations. Thus the present results support the idea of a GH-independent IGF/ IGFBP regulation mediated by a balance of insulin and nutrients as has already been suggested in previous neonatal studies.


1992 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey R Ambler ◽  
Bernhard H Breier ◽  
Andrzej Surus ◽  
Hugh T Blair ◽  
Stuart N McCutcheon ◽  
...  

We evaluated the interrelationship between, and regulation of, the hepatic growth hormone receptor and serum GH binding protein (GH BP) in pigs treated with recombinant porcine growth hormone (rpGH). Infant and pubertal male pigs (N = 5 per group) received either rpGH 0.15 mg/kg daily or diluent intramuscularly for 12 days. Somatic growth, serum IGF-I and GH BP and [125I]bovine GH (bGH) binding to MgCl2-treated hepatic membrane homogenates were examined. Marked age-related increases were seen in serum GH BP (p<0.001) and [125I]bGH binding to hepatic membranes (p<0.001). GH BP was increased in rpGH treated animals (p = 0.03), from 13.8±1.2 (mean±1 x sem) (controls) to 17.8±2.0% in infants, and from 35.2±2.6 (controls) to 41.8±3.4% in pubertal animals. [125I]bGH binding to hepatic membranes was also increased by rpGH treatment (p<0.05), from 7.0±1.6 (controls) to 15.4±3.6% in infants and from 53.7±7.1 (controls) to 65.1±11.8% in pubertal animals. No significant interaction between age and treatment was seen. Overall, serum GH BP correlated significantly with [125I]bGH membrane capacity (r=0.82, p<0.001), with a correlation of r= 0.83 in the infant animals but no significant correlation in the pubertal animals considered alone (r=0.13). Serum IGF-I correlated significantly with serum GH BP (r=0.93, p<0.001) and [125]bGH membrane binding capacity (r = 0.91, p< 0.001). These observations suggest that serum GH BP levels reflect major changes of hepatic GH receptor status. In addition, the present study demonstrates that the hepatic GH receptor can be induced by GH in the infant pig, despite a developmentally low GH receptor population at this age, suggesting potential efficacy of GH at earlier ages than generally considered.


2005 ◽  
Vol 152 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
W M Drake ◽  
R A Loureiro ◽  
C Parkinson ◽  
J P Monson ◽  
G M Besser ◽  
...  

Objective: Pegvisomant, a modified growth hormone (GH) molecule, is a novel medical therapy for acromegaly that functions as a GH receptor antagonist. Serum GH cannot be used as a marker of disease activity in patients taking this form of therapy, partly because GH levels rise on pegvisomant and partly because the drug cross-reacts with many routine GH assays. The purpose of this study was to assess the time for which it is necessary to discontinue pegvisomant prior to biochemical reassessment of acromegaly. Design and methods: This was a retrospective study of 13 patients (seven male, median age 61 years, range 43–77) enrolled in two separate, open-label studies of the efficacy and tolerability of pegvisomant in the treatment of acromegaly. All had been taking a stable dose of pegvisomant (median dose 15 mg daily, range 10–30) as monotherapy for at least 3 months before discontinuing the drug. After discontinuation of pegvisomant, serum IGF-I was measured at 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks in all patients. Serum GH (single sample) was measured in nine patients at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks, but not at baseline on account of the cross-reactivity of pegvisomant with the GH assay. Results: Mean serum IGF-I rose from 210±105 ng/ml (s.d.) at baseline to 392±175 ng/ml at 2 weeks after discontinuation of pegvisomant (P < 0.0001). Although there was no statistically significant change in mean serum IGF-I beyond 2 weeks (412±181, 392±152 and 399±150 ng/ml at 4, 6 and 8 weeks respectively; P = 0.13 (2 vs 4 weeks), 0.31 (4 vs 6 weeks) and 0.46 (6 vs 8 weeks), serum IGF-I rose by more than twice the interassay coefficient of variation (CV) in two of the 13 patients between weeks 2 and 4. The standard deviation of the difference in serum IGF-I between time points was calculated. The values declined from 118% (weeks 0–2) 17%, 19.7% and 10% (weeks 2–4, 4–6 and 6–8 respectively). The expected measure if there was no systematic change in base would be 15% (1.4 ×interassay CV). Mean serum GH was virtually unchanged at 2–8 weeks after cessation of pegvisomant therapy. Conclusions: These results suggest that the activity of acromegaly may be assessed by serum IGF-I levels 6 weeks after the discontinuation of pegvisomant.


2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Scheila Fritsch ◽  
Rafaela Martinez Copes ◽  
Bruna Savioli ◽  
Mariana Freitas de Aguiar ◽  
Rozana Mesquita Ciconelli ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Indian Takayasu Clinical Activity Score (ITAS2010) was developed in 2010 as an assessment tool for disease activity in patients with Takayasu arteritis (TA). It has since been widely used in different studies and in clinical practice for the management of patients with TA. The present study aims to translate the ITAS2010 into Brazilian Portuguese language and to validate it for use in clinical practice in Brazil. Methods For this cross-sectional study, the ITAS2010 was translated in accordance with the guidelines described by Beaton et al. and then applied with 27 patients with TA on three assessments by two rheumatologists working independently. To measure interrater agreement, the assessments were performed on the same day within approximately 1 hour. One of the rheumatologists performed a second evaluation of patients with TA within 7 to 14 days to measure intrarater agreement. Results The correlation coefficient for the ITAS2010 score between the two raters was high (r = 0.916; p < 0.0001), as well as the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) [0.918 with a 95% confidence interval (95CI): 0.828–0.962]. The correlation coefficient and the ICC for intrarater agreement were moderate for ITAS2010 (r = 0.633; p < 0.0001 and ICC = 0.594; 95CI: 0.292–0.790). The ITAS2010 at baseline was compared with the physician’s global assessment (PGA) and with Kerr’s criteria for detecting disease activity in TA. Higher ITAS2010 scores were observed in patients with active and grumbling/persistent disease than in those presenting inactive disease according to the PGA [1.5 (0.0–3.0) vs. 0.0 (0.0–0.0); p = 0.0025]. Patients with active disease according to the Kerr’s criteria had also higher ITAS2010 scores than those considered in remission [3.0 (3.0–7.0) vs. 0.0 (0.0–0.0); p = 0.0068]. Conclusions The Brazilian Portuguese version of the ITAS2010 is a valid and reproducible tool for the assessment of disease activity in TA and it is an additional tool for the routine evaluation of Brazilian patients with TA.


1998 ◽  
Vol 159 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
N LaPaglia ◽  
J Steiner ◽  
L Kirsteins ◽  
M Emanuele ◽  
N Emanuele

Proper nutritional status is critical for maintaining growth and metabolic function, playing an intimate role in neuroendocrine regulation. Leptin, the recently identified product of the obese gene, may very well be an integral signal which regulates neuroendocrine responses in times of food deprivation. The present study examines leptin's ability to regulate hormonal synthesis and secretion within the GRF-GH-IGF axis in the adult male rat during almost 3 days of fasting. Serum levels of GH and IGF-I were drastically suppressed by fasting. Daily leptin administration was able to fully prevent the fasting-induced fall in serum GH. Leptin failed to restore IGF-I to control levels, however, suggesting possible GH resistance. Fasting caused an insignificant increase in GH mRNA, while leptin injections significantly increased steady-state levels of this message. The GRF receptor (GRFr) message was not altered with fasting or leptin treatment. Leptin also exhibited effects at the hypothalamic level. Fasting induced a sharp fall in GRF mRNA expression and leptin injections partially prevented this fall. However, there were no observed changes in the hypothalamic GRF content. These results provide evidence that leptin may function as a neuromodulator of the GRF-GH-IGF axis communicating to this hormonal system the nutritional status of the animal.


1993 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Kanety ◽  
Avraham Karasik ◽  
Beatrice Klinger ◽  
Aviva Silbergeld ◽  
Zvi Laron

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) is the major carrier of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1) in serum, and its production is growth hormone (GH) dependent. It is unclear whether in humans IGFBP-3 production is directly regulated by GH or mediated via IGF-I. We addressed this question in six patients with Laron-type dwarfism, a syndrome characterized by the absence of GH receptor activity (LTD), who were chronically treated with recombinant IGF-I. Analysis of the electrophoretic profiles of serum IGFBPs in these patients by Western ligand blotting revealed an extremely low IGFBP-3 level. A striking progressive increase in serum IGFBP-3 was observed with continuous treatment, despite the absence of GH action. In LTD children, serum IGFBP-3 increased up to 19-fold after six months of therapy and equalled levels observed in controls, whereas in adult LTD patients the increase was smaller. A rise in serum levels of 34, 30 and 24 kDa BPs (presumably IGFBP-2, -1 and -4, respectively was also noted with chronic IGF-I therapy. This proof of GH-independent induction of IGFBP-3 by IGF-1 may be a major advantage in the therapeutic use of biosynthetic IGF-I in several types of short stature children.


1995 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
pp. 320-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Lefebvre ◽  
Lutgarde De Paepe ◽  
Roger Abs ◽  
Jacques Rahier ◽  
Philippe Selvais ◽  
...  

Lefebvre S, De Paepe L, Abs R, Rahier J, Selvais P, Maiter D. Subcutaneous octreotide treatment of a growth hormone-releasing hormone-secreting bronchial carcinoid: superiority of continuous versus intermittent administration to control hormonal secretion. Eur J Endocrinol 1995;133:320–4. ISSN 0804–4643 Diagnosis of ectopic acromegaly was made in a 21-year-old female patient who 3 years before had undergone a right pneumectomy for a disseminated bronchial carcinoid. Plasma growth hormonereleasing hormone (GHRH) concentrations were markedly elevated (6440 ng/l; normal value <100 ng/l), as were serum GH (187 μg/l; normal <5 μg/l) and plasma insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) levels (6.7 U/ml; normal <2 U/ml). Retrospective immunohistochemical examination of the carcinoid tumor was positive for GHRH and the tumoral content of GHRH was 2130 ng/g wet weight. Subcutaneous treatment with octreotide was begun and first resulted in a profound inhibition of GH hypersecretion, normalization of plasma IGF-I and only partial reduction of GHRH concentrations. However, the initial dose of 3 × 100 μg had to be increased gradually to 4 × 750 μg because of a progressive deterioration of the hormonal control. After 15 months of intermittent therapy, octreotide was administered by continuous sc infusion. This treatment improved compliance, allowed the daily dose of octreotide to be reduced to 1500 μg and normalized serum GH levels. A near-normalization of the plasma IGF-I concentrations was also obtained, whereas the suppression of plasma GHRH concentrations remained incomplete. Despite favorable evolution of the endocrine parameters, intramedullar metastases were diagnosed and required radiation therapy. This observation emphasizes the superiority of continuous over intermittent administration of octreotide in the treatment of ectopic acromegaly. It also shows that the somatostatin analog acts more at the pituitary level to inhibit GH secretion than at the site of the neuroendocrine tumor. S Lefebvre, Division of Rheumatology, Clinique du Refuge, Rue du Couvent 39, B-7700 Mouscron, Belgium


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