A 24-hour comparison of serum growth hormone concentrations in patients with heart failure versus healthy controls.
OBJECTIVE
To compare endogenous serum growth hormone concentrations over a 24-hour period in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and matched controls.


METHODS
Prospective, 24-hour, endogenous concentration comparison.


METHODS
Hospital research center.


METHODS
Eight evaluable patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy and 10 healthy control subjects, matched for age and sex.


METHODS
Over a 24-hour period, blood was drawn from the study participants every 20 minutes for determination of growth hormone.


RESULTS
For each patient, the area under the concentration-time curve from time 0-24 hours (AUC0-24), maximum concentration (Cmax), and minimum concentration (Cnadir) of growth hormone were determined. The AUC0-24 and Cmax were 74% (p < 0.05) and 62% (p < 0.05) lower in patients with CHF than in controls, respectively. The Cnadir for all participants was 0 microg/L. Variability in growth hormone concentrations over the 24 hours was considerable for all study participants.


CONCLUSIONS
Growth hormone concentrations are suppressed over a 24-hour period in patients with CHF versus healthy controls. Variability in levels throughout the day suggests that a single point evaluation cannot be used to determine deficiency or abundance of growth hormone.
Duncan
Brett
B
Division of Cardiology, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Connecticut 06102-5037, USA.
Moyna
Niall M
NM
Heller
Gary V
GV
McGill
Carol
C
Katten
Deborah
D
Finta
Laurie
L
Velusamy
Muthu
M
Kelsey
Anita
A
Wieczorek
Stacey
S
Wu
Alan H B
AH
White
C Michael
CM
D000328:Adult; D019540:Area Under Curve; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D016903:Drug Monitoring; D005260:Female; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies
D013006:Growth Hormone