title: Effect of the opioid blockade on the feeding-induced growth hormone response to growth hormone-releasing hormone in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist, on the release of growth hormone (GH) induced by the growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) in normal-weight and obese women with PCOS in relation to feeding.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective clinical study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Academic research center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen women with PCOS (10 who were normal weight and 7 who were obese) and 14 control women (7 who were normal weight and 7 who were obese).
  
  
  METHODS
  A GHRH test (50 microg i.v.) and, on a different day, a GHRH test during a naloxone infusion (1.6 mg/h) during fasting. The same tests were repeated after a standard meal.
  
  
  METHODS
  GH response to GHRH (expressed as the area under the curve [AUC]) in different experimental conditions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All normal-weight women showed a significantly higher AUC-GH compared with obese women in the fasting state. Normal-weight controls had a decrease in GH response to GHRH after feeding, and naloxone did not reverse the decrease. In obese controls, feeding increased the GH response but naloxone induced a decrease in the AUC. In fasting, normal-weight women with PCOS, naloxone significantly decreased the AUC-GH; in these patients, food intake induced an inhibition of GH response to GHRH, reversed by naloxone infusion. In obese PCOS patients, GH levels did not increase significantly after GHRH stimulation, either in the fasting state or after a meal, and naloxone did not affect these responses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Factors other than obesity and insulin may be involved in disruption of GH secretion in women with PCOS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy. maurizoguido@libero.it
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guido
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Romualdi
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lattanzi
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Villa
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barini
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lanzone
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Marinis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001835:Body Weight; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology*; D005215:Fasting / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D013007:Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009270:Naloxone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D011085:Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D009292:Narcotic Antagonists; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D009270:Naloxone; D013007:Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone