title: Growth hormone and somatomedin-C in bulimia.
abstract: Somatomedin-C (SOM-C) concentrations are regulated by circulating growth hormone (GH) concentrations; however, other factors, such as nutrition, also influence SOM-C concentrations. We evaluated the GH-SOM-C axis in seven normal-weight female bulimics one day after hospital admission, and in seven age-, sex-, and weight-matched normal controls. Subjects were medication-free for at least one month. Fasting morning serum GH concentrations were higher in all bulimics (range 2.5-13.3 ng/ml) than in all controls (range less than 1.0-1.8 ng/ml). The mean (+/- SD) maximum GH response to TRH (500 micrograms) was greater in the bulimics (12.9 +/- 4.9 ng/ml) than in the controls (3.7 +/- 2.7 ng/ml) (p less than .001). Despite this GH elevation, the mean (+/- SD) SOM-C concentration was comparable in the bulimics (2.0 +/- 0.6 U/ml) and the controls (1.6 +/- 0.8 U/ml). This suggests that SOM-C generation is resistant to the elevated circulating GH in bulimia and that SOM-C is not inhibiting GH secretion in the pituitary-hypothalamic axis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Malarkey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002032:Bulimia / Q000097:blood*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000097:blood*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D013002:Somatomedins / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D013002:Somatomedins; D004958:Estradiol; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D013006:Growth Hormone