Thyrotrophin and prolactin release in prolonged critical illness: dynamics of spontaneous secretion and effects of growth hormone-secretagogues

What Was Tested

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

Here the researchers report the dynamic characteristics of spontaneous nightly TSH and PRL secretion during prolonged critical illness, together with the concomitant effects exerted by the administration of GH-secretagogues, GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and GH-releasing peptide-2 (GHRP-2) in particular, on night-time TSH and PRL secretion.

Who Took Part

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

How the Study Was Run

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

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.

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

Each person switched between Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.

According to a weighed randomization, they received 1 of 4 combinations of infusions, within a randomized, cross-over design for each combination: placebo (one night) and GHRH (the next night) (n = 4); placebo and GHRP-2 (n = 10); GHRH and GHRP-2 (n = 6); GHRP-2 and GHRH + GHRP-2 (n = 6).

Serum concentrations of TSH and PRL were determined by IRMA every 20 minutes and T4, T3 and rT3 by RIA at 2100 h and 0600 h in each study night.

Hormone secretion was quantified using deconvolution analysis.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Critical Illness, Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone, Half-Life, Hormones, Oligopeptides, Pituitary Gland, Anterior and Prolactin.

What This Means in Plain Language

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

Its findings take up roughly 10 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 1997 (Clinical 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.