H. Christensen et H. Oxlund, GROWTH-HORMONE INCREASES THE COLLAGEN DEPOSITION RATE AND BREAKING STRENGTH OF LEFT COLONIC ANASTOMOSES IN RATS, Surgery, 116(3), 1994, pp. 550-556
Background. The purpose was to investigate how growth hormone exerts i
ts stimulating effect on the healing of experimental colonic anastomos
es. Methods. Rats were treated with biosynthetic growth hormone (bGH);
the anastomotic breaking strength, collagen content, and collagen dep
osition rate (labeling of collagen with C-14-proline) were compared to
saline treated controls. Results. bGH increased the breaking strength
when the rats were treated before and after the operation and when bG
H treatment was started at operation and continued during the healing
period. No effect on these parameters was seen, however, when treatmen
t was given only before operation. The collagen deposition rate of the
intact colon was accelerated from 0.6% to 1.0% per hour at operation
after 7 days of preoperative treatment. The anastomotic collagen depos
ition rate was increased on day 4 from 4.4% in the controls to 9.0% in
the anastomosed rats given bGH from operation and to 12.9% in rats gi
ven bGH from 7 days before operation until day 4 after operation, resu
lting in a higher anastomotic collagen content. Conclusions. Treatment
of rats with bGH in the healing phase increases the breaking strength
of colonic anastomoses caused by a stimulation of the collagen deposi
tion rate of the anastomotic segment.