title: Growth hormone and cardiac function.
abstract: Impaired cardiovascular function, which may reduce life expectancy, has recently been demonstrated both in GH deficiency and excess. Moreover, experimental and clinical studies support the evidence implicating GH and/or IGF-I in the regulation of heart development. The existence of a specific acromegalic cardiomyophathy characterized by myocardial hypertrophy with interstitial fibrosis, lympho-mononuclear infiltration and areas of monocyte necrosis which often result in biventricular concentric hypertrophy has been recenty demonstrated. By contrast, patients with childhood or adulthood-onset GH deficiency (GHD) present with abnormalities of structure and function of the left ventricle. In these patients, a significant increase in the vascular intima-media thickness and an increased number of atheromatous plaques have also been reported. The abnormalities of cardiovascular system could be partially reverted by suppressing GH and IGF-I levels in acromegaly or after GH remplacement therapy in GHD patients. The evidence that GH is able to increase cardiac mass suggested its use in the -treatment of chronic heart failure of diverse etiologies. GH administration was -demonstrated to induce an improvement in hemodynamics and clinical status in some patients. Although these data should be confirmed in double-blind placebo controlled studies in larger series, the promising results open new perspectives for GH treatment in humans.
authors.affiliation: Departement of Molecular and Clinical Endocrinology and Oncology, Federico II  University, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lombardi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Somma
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marzullo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cerbone
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colao
mesh_terms: D000172:Acromegaly / Q000503:physiopathology; D002303:Cardiac Output, Low / Q000188:drug therapy; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology*; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency / Q000502:physiology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000502:physiology / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I