title: Measurement of urinary growth hormone. A noninvasive method to assess the 'growth hormone status'.
abstract: Using pharmacological tests or GH profiles, GH deficiency or active acromegaly can be diagnosed. However, it is impossible to discriminate within the continuum between 'deficiency/insufficiency' and 'sufficient secretion'. The use of GH to improve growth velocity is based on 1 injection once a day. It is thus the total amount of GH which appears to be important for its growth-promoting effect. An assay of GH in urine allows to assess such GH 'production', even over a prolonged period of time. A radiometric two-step assay applicable to untreated urine is presented. Results for assessing the 'GH status' by measuring GH in 24-hour urine, first morning-void urine or timed urine samples are shown. The correlation between 24-hour plasma profiles and the simultaneously collected 24-hour urine is significant at p less than 0.01. A correlation coefficient greater than 0.9 was found between timed urine samples (4 h) and the 120-min plasma GH values during GHRH stimulation tests. The night-to-night variation of urinary GH can be very important. It is advisable, therefore, to use the mean of several night urines. The correlation between the mean urinary GH of 5 nights to one 24-hour sample is significant at p less than 0.01. An age-dependent increase in urinary GH is found in the pubertal age group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors: University Children's Hospital, Basel, Switzerland.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Girard
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Fischer-Wasels
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005260:Female; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D008297:Male; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D013739:Testosterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D014424:Turner Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D013006:Growth Hormone