Growth hormone (GH) replacement therapy reduces serum sialic acid concentrations in adults with GH-deficiency: a double-blind placebo-controlled study.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over), published as a randomized controlled trial.

Sialic acid (SA) concentrations have been proposed as a marker of atherosclerotic disease probably related to an inflammatory response of the arterial wall.

SA as a marker of cardiovascular disease in adult GH-deficiency and its relation to changes in fasting lipid profile and hormone concentrations have not yet been investigated.

Who Took Part

The study group was 18 patients.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

In addition, SA concentrations were measured in 18 sex and age matched healthy control subjects.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over), so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) could be set against what happens without it.

Blood samples were obtained after an overnight fast.

Serum SA, triglycerides and cholesterol were measured using enzymatic methods.

Lipoprotein classes were separated by ultracentrifugation.

Insulin and IGF-I were determined by radioimmunoassay, HbA1C was measured by anion exchange liquid chromatography.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Biomarkers, Case-Control Studies, Cholesterol, Cholesterol, LDL, Growth Hormone, Hormone Replacement Therapy and Human Growth Hormone.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) in 18 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Its findings take up roughly 6 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 1999 (Clinical endocrinology), a journal based in England.

More context: the Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) compound page, all human trials.