Blockade of endogenous growth hormone-releasing hormone receptors dissociates nocturnal growth hormone secretion and slow-wave sleep

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) and GHRH (Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone).

A temporal association between non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep stages 3 and 4 and nocturnal augmentation of GH release was found long ago, yet the precise mechanism for this association has not been identified.

Based on these data, a role for GHRH as an inducer of SWS was proposed.

To test this hypothesis, the researchers have performed the corollary experiment whereby the action of endogenous GHRH has been antagonized.

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, men only.

Healthy men (20-33 years old) had an infusion of GHRH antagonist ((N-Ac-Tyr(1), D-Arg(2)) GHRH-29 (NH(2))) or saline for a 12-h period, between 2100 and 0900 h.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized study.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) group and the comparison group should start out alike.

A limited montage sleep study was recorded from 2300 to 0700 h during each admission.

Plasma GH concentrations were analyzed by the use of a sensitive chemiluminometric assay.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Circadian Rhythm, Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone, Human Growth Hormone, Receptors, Neuropeptide, Receptors, Pituitary Hormone-Regulating Hormone, Sermorelin and Sleep Stages.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) and GHRH (Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone).

Results are reported in around 3 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2004 (European journal of endocrinology), a journal based in England.

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