Growth hormone therapy in patients with cirrhosis: a pilot study of efficacy and safety.

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.

The aim of this study was to conduct a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study of GH therapy in 20 cirrhotic patients to assess the reversibility of GH resistance and subsequent impact on protein economy and safety.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 20 patients were involved.

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

How the Study Was Run

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

Because people in this Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over), giving a reference point.

It is described as a pilot, a small early test of whether a larger Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) study would be practical.

Serum levels of GH, IGF-I, IGFBP-3, and insulin were measured by radioimmunoassay and 24-hour urinary nitrogen by the Kjeldahl technique.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Growth Hormone, Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3, Insulin-Like Growth Factor I, Liver Cirrhosis and Pilot Projects.

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 20 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.

Results are reported in around 5 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 1997 (Gastroenterology), a journal based in United States.

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