Immune function during GH treatment in GH-deficient adults: an 18-month randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded trial.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Growth Hormone and Interleukin-2, published as a randomized controlled trial.

The aim of the present study was to investigate natural killer (NK) cell function and lymphocyte subsets in GH-deficient (GHD) adults, before and during long-term GH treatment.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 19 adults were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

Measurement of lymphocyte subsets and NK cell activity was performed.

Data obtained from 110 healthy adults served as reference values.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

The adults were allocated by chance, so the Growth Hormone group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Neither the adults nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Growth Hormone, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some adults received a placebo instead of Growth Hormone, giving a reference point.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Case-Control Studies, Growth Hormone, Hydrocortisone, Insulin-Like Growth Factor I, Interferon-alpha, Interleukin-2 and Killer Cells, Natural.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Growth Hormone and Interleukin-2 in 19 adults.

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.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2002 (Clinical endocrinology), a journal based in England.

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