Effects of growth hormone replacement therapy on IGF-related parameters and on the pituitary-gonadal axis in GH-deficient males. A double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study.

What Was Tested

This controlled clinical trial looks at Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over).

To express full anabolic effect in immature boys testosterone apparently requires the presence of GH.

In GH-deficient adults, GH replacement therapy exerts a variety of anabolic actions, some of which are similar to the effects of gonadal steroids.

Who Took Part

The study group was 13 patients.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, men only.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over), so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) group a baseline to be compared against.

In the crossover set-up each of the patients took both Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

What Was Measured

To express full anabolic effect in immature boys testosterone apparently requires the presence of GH.

However, little is known about the potential effects of GH on gonadal steroids and on dynamic tests of pituitary-gonadal function in adults with GH deficiency.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Antigens, Surface, Carboxypeptidases, Estradiol, Follicle Stimulating Hormone and Glutamate Carboxypeptidase II.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study of Exogenous HGH, sermorelin & older GHRPs (why they're passed over) in 13 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.

The publication is from 1998 (Hormone research), a journal based in Switzerland.

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