Sex difference in the relation between sellar volume and basal and GH-releasing hormone stimulated GH in acromegaly.
Sellar volume and both basal (r = +0.54, P less than 0.02) and GHRH-stimulated (r = +0.41, P less than 0.05) GH levels were directly correlated in a group of 28 patients with acromegaly as were the latter indices (r = +0.82, P less than 0.001). By subdividing the patients according to sex, a close relation between sellar size and both basal (r = +0.77, P less than 0.02) and stimulated GH (r = +0.71, P less than 0.02) was found only in the men, not in the women (r = +0.12 and r = +0.02, respectively, P greater than 0.10). The presence of a tight relation between sellar volume and basal and GHRH stimulated GH levels in male patients with acromegaly and its complete absence in women are equally intriguing and await further elucidation. A modulating role of gonadal steroids in the genesis of this sex differences remain to be assessed.
D000172:Acromegaly / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D013007:Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012658:Sella Turcica / Q000473:pathology*; D012737:Sex Factors
D013006:Growth Hormone; D013007:Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone