title: A 24-hour comparison of serum growth hormone concentrations in patients with heart failure versus healthy controls.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Connecticut 06102-5037, USA.
authors.forename: Brett
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.forename: Niall M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Moyna
authors.forename: Gary V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Heller
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McGill
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Katten
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Finta
authors.forename: Muthu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Velusamy
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kelsey
authors.forename: Stacey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wieczorek
authors.forename: Alan H B
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: C Michael
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D013006:Growth Hormone