Effect of long-term treatment with GH on bone metabolism, bone mineral density and bone elasticity in GH-deficient adults.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Growth Hormone, published as a randomized controlled trial.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of long-term GH replacement therapy on bone metabolism, BMD and bone elasticity in adults with GHD.

Who Took Part

The study group was 20 adults.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

Of the 20 patients included in the study, 11 were male and nine were female.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized and placebo-controlled study.

Because people in this Growth Hormone study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Growth Hormone could be set against what happens without it.

Mean age at the start of the study was 42.5 +/- 10.1 years.

Rates of bone resorption and formation were assessed by measuring serum levels of type I collagen carboxyterminal cross-linked telopeptide (ICTP) and carboxyterminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP), respectively.

BMD was measured at the lumbar spine by dual-photon absorptiometry (DPA) and at the non-dominant forearm by single-photon absorptiometry (SPA).

Bone elasticity was assessed by measuring apparent phalangeal ultrasound transmission velocity (APU).

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Absorptiometry, Photon, Biomarkers, Bone Density, Bone and Bones, Collagen, Collagen Type I and Elasticity.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and placebo-controlled study of Growth Hormone in 20 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.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 7 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 1998 (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.