title: Urea synthesis, nitrogen balance, and glucose turnover in growth-hormone-deficient children before and after growth hormone administration.
abstract: We measured the effect of human growth hormone (hGH) on urea synthesis, nitrogen retention, and glucose turnover in ten euthyroid growth hormone (GH)-deficient children before and after seven daily injections of 0.1 U/kg hGH. The patients were fed a weight-maintaining diet with 9% of energy derived from protein. Following an overnight fast, urea synthesis and glucose turnover were determined using a primed constant infusion of [15N2] urea and a constant infusion of [6,6-2H2] glucose. Human growth hormone produced a decrease in urea nitrogen synthesis from 6.8 +/- 0.5 to 4.2 +/- 0.4 mg/kg.h; (P less than .01), while plasma urea nitrogen decreased from 13.1 +/- 0.8 to 7.4 +/- 0.8 mg/dL; (P less than .01). The decrease in urea synthesis was reflected in a corresponding decrease in urine urea nitrogen excretion (-2.8 mg/kg.h). There was a significant correlation between plasma urea nitrogen and urea synthesis rate both before (r = 0.85, P less than .01) and after (r = 0.79, P less than .01) hGH treatment. In response to hGH, there was a rise in both plasma glucose (81.4 +/- 2.2 v 89.8 +/- 2.3 mg/dL; P less than .05) and insulin (5.7 +/- 0.8 v 13.1 +/- 3.0 microU/mL; P less than .05), however, glucose turnover remained unchanged (4.7 +/- 0.3 v 4.6 +/- 0.6 mg/kg.min). After seven days of growth hormone treatment, the patients were placed on 0.1 U/kg of hGH three times a week for 6 months, and their growth rate was calculated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital, Cleveland, OH 44106.
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Dahms
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Owens
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kalhan
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Danish
mesh_terms: D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001806:Blood Urea Nitrogen; D002648:Child; D005215:Fasting; D005260:Female; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006128:Growth / Q000187:drug effects; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency*; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D014508:Urea / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D014508:Urea; D013006:Growth Hormone; D005947:Glucose; D009584:Nitrogen