Rd. Murray et al., Dose titration and patient selection increases the efficacy of GH replacement in severely GH deficient adults, CLIN ENDOCR, 50(6), 1999, pp. 749-757
OBJECTIVE Previous studies of GH replacement in adults have used unselected
cohorts of GH deficient (GHD) adults and weight-based dosing regimens resu
lting in supraphysiological serum IGF-I levels and a high frequency of side
-effects and withdrawal from these studies. By choosing patients with a hig
h level of morbidity at baseline and using a low dose GH titration regimen
we aimed to avoid over-replacement and increase the efficacy of treatment.
DESIGN An open study of GH replacement, initiating treatment with a dose of
0.8 U/day and titrating the dose by 0.4 U increments to normalize the IGF-
I SDS between - 2.0 and + 2.0 SD of the age-related normal range.
PATIENTS 65 severely GHD patients (peak GH < 9 mU/ I to provocative testing
), 25 males, of mixed adult and childhood-onset and mean age 38.7 (range 17
-72) years. Inclusion criterion was that of subjectively poor quality of li
fe on clinical interview.
MEASUREMENTS Height, weight, waist and hip circumference were measured to a
llow calculation of body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio (WHR). Bone m
ineral density (BMD) was measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Seru
m haemoglobin A1C (Hb(A1C)), lipid profile and insulin like growth factor 1
(IGF-I) were measured. The Psychological General Well-Being Schedule (PGWB
) and Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency Assessment (AGHDA) self-rating questi
onnaires (SRQ) were used to assess quality of life.
RESULTS Baseline characteristics were consistent with those previously desc
ribed in severely GHD adults; mean IGF-I SDS - 2.4 (+/- 2.7), BMI 28.8 (+/-
5.4) kg/m(2), total cholesterol 6.17 (+/- 1.2) mmol/l, reduced BMD z-score
s at the lumbar spine (-0.8 +/- 1.2) and femoral neck (-0.44 +/- 1.4), and
SRQ scores considerably lower than reported in previous studies of GH defic
ient adults and normal controls.
Following initiation of GH serum IGF-I SDS was increased significantly from
baseline to a mean level of 0.15 +/- 2.7 (P<0.001) and 0.31 +/- 2.0 (P<0.0
01) at three and eight months, respectively. The mean PGWB score increased
from 59.7 +/- 19.9 to 75.8 +/- 15.0 (P<0.001) and 73.7 +/- 19.5 (P = 0.001)
at three and eight months, respectively. An increase of 14 points represen
ts the largest improvement in quality of life, using this index, that has b
een reported in GHD adults. The mean AGHDA score also demonstrated consider
able improvement, falling from 15.3 +/- 6.0 to 10.4 +/- 6.2 (P<0.001) and 9
.8 +/- 6.5 (P<0.001) at three and eight months, respectively. The changes o
bserved in both the PGWB and AGHDA scores between baseline and at both thre
e and eight months were shown to correlate significantly with the respectiv
e baseline score. A significantly greater improvement was observed in the P
GWB following GH replacement in those with a baseline PGWB score of <60 tha
n in those with a score >60. This observation was significant at both three
(27.1 vs 6.7, P = 0.0001) and eight (25.6 vs 3.3, P = 0.0003) months. All
PGWB subscales showed significant improvement though that of vitality was o
f greatest magnitude. A strong correlation was observed between the generic
and disease-specific SRQ (r= - 0.73, P< 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS The observed improvement in quality of life in GH deficient adu
lts is proportional to the degree of impairment before commencing therapy.
The use of low-dose titration and selection of a population with greater mo
rbidity reduces the occurrence of over-replacement and increases the effica
cy of treatment. This allows direction of resources to those in greatest ne
ed.