Cardiovascular risk factors in acromegaly before and after normalization of serum IGF-I levels with the GH antagonist pegvisomant.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Receptors, Somatotropin in this randomized controlled trial publication.

The researchers investigated the effects of GH receptor blockade on inflammatory and other cardiovascular risk markers in active acromegaly.

C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, homocysteine, lipoprotein(a), glucose, insulin, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were determined at baseline, 4 and 12 wk in the placebo-controlled study and at 3-month intervals (during which IGF-I levels were normal) in the longitudinal study.

Who Took Part

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

Forty-eight patients with acromegaly and 47 age- and body mass index-matched controls were included.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, open-label and placebo-controlled study.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Receptors, Somatotropin group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Everyone knew when Receptors, Somatotropin was being given (open label), which is simpler to run but leaves more room for expectations to affect what is reported.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Receptors, Somatotropin, giving a reference point.

What Was Measured

C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, homocysteine, lipoprotein(a), glucose, insulin, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were determined at baseline, 4 and 12 wk in the placebo-controlled study and at 3-month intervals (during which IGF-I levels were normal) in the longitudinal study.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Acromegaly, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cross-Sectional Studies, Human Growth Hormone, Insulin and Insulin-Like Growth Factor I.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, open-label and placebo-controlled study of Receptors, Somatotropin.

The publication is from 2002 (The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism), a journal based in United States.

More context: all human trials.