title: Effect of deflazacort on growth hormone response to insulin tolerance test.
abstract: Deflazacort (DF) has been claimed to be provided with a reduced distribution into the central nervous system, therefore it is conceivable that this glucocorticoid holds a lower inhibitory effect on GH secretion. To test this hypothesis we studied the GH response to insulin tolerance test (ITT) in two matched groups of patients given equivalent doses of DF and prednisone (PN). The serum glucose changes induced by ITT were similar in the two groups and in control subjects; the mean increase in plasma GH, in particular the peak and the area under the curve (delta AUC), were not different in control subjects and DF-treated patients (25 +/- 12.5 ng/ml and 1790 +/- 904 ng/ml/min versus 27.7 +/- 21.5 ng/ml and 1578 +/- 1242 ng/ml/min) but were significantly reduced in PN-treated patients (8.8 +/- 9.7 ng/ml and 431.6 +/- 451 ng/ml/min). Our study demonstrates that DF does not interfere with the GH response to ITT as PN does.
authors.affiliation: Istituti di Semeiotica e Nefrologia Medica e di Chimica, Università di Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: LoCascio
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Francia
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Daví
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adami
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cominacini
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rossi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011241:Prednisone / Q000494:pharmacology; D011282:Pregnenediones / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D011282:Pregnenediones; D013006:Growth Hormone; C021988:deflazacort; D011241:Prednisone