EFFECTS OF ESTRADIOL VALERATE ON GROWTH-HORMONE AND PROLACTIN RESPONSE TO GROWTH-HORMONE-RELEASING-HORMONE STIMULATION IN PREMENOPAUSAL ANDPOSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN
Bw. Hartmann et al., EFFECTS OF ESTRADIOL VALERATE ON GROWTH-HORMONE AND PROLACTIN RESPONSE TO GROWTH-HORMONE-RELEASING-HORMONE STIMULATION IN PREMENOPAUSAL ANDPOSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN, Gynecological endocrinology, 11(1), 1997, pp. 43-50
We investigated the relationship between the growth hormone and prolac
tin response to stimulation of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH)
and changes in body weight in pre- and postmenopausal women before an
d after 4 and 20 weeks of oral hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Ten
postmenopausal women (with levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH
) of > 30 mIU/ml) were compared to ten premenopausal women suffering f
rom post-pill amenorrhea (FSH < 10 mIU/ml). Both patient groups report
ed anamnestic body weight increases in the course of the former use of
sex hormones. Additionally, ten postmenopausal women without anamnest
ic weight changes were studied. A significant reduction in the growth
hormone response to GHRH was observed during the first month of HRT in
women gaining weight, which was restored to pre-therapeutic levels af
ter 6 months of HRT. A small but statistically significant increase in
insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I levels occurred in the course of H
RT in all patients studied. These changes in growth hormone stimulatio
n testing and IGF-I levels were accompanied by distinct changes in bod
y weight. No reduction in the GHRH response was observed in those pati
ents who did not gain body weight. Although GHRH stimulation induces a
significant rise of prolactin concentrations in all patients before t
herapy, no influence on prolactin levels could be demonstrated during
HRT.