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Horm Metab Res 1988; 20(2): 107-109
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-1010764
Clinical

© Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart · New York

Comparison of the Acute Metabolic Effects of 22,000-Dalton and 20,000-Dalton Growth Hormone in Human Subjects

F. L. Culler, S. Kaufmann, L. G. Frigeri, K. L. Jones
  • The Whittier Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology (F.L.C., L.G.F.) and the Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego (K.L.J., S.K.) La Jolla, California, U.S.A.
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Publication History

1986

1987

Publication Date:
14 March 2008 (online)

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Summary

The acute metabolic effects of 20,000-dalton human growth hormone (hGH20K)in man have not previously been tested. We compared changes in concentrations of free fatty acids (FFA), glucose, and insulin in nine growth hormone deficient children following injection of 22,000-dalton intact human growth hormone (hGH22K) and the smaller variant, hGH20K There was a significant decline (37%) in the mean FFA concentration from baseline to œ hour post-injection and from baseline to 1 hour post-injection (36%) in the children given hGH22K, but no such decline was seen after injection of hGH20K. No significant differences in mean insulin or glucose concentrations were noted between the two treatment groups, and glucose and insulin concentrations did not acutely change after injection of either hormone.

The results of this study indicate that hGH20K has a diminished activity for suppression of FFA as compared to hGH22K. This suggests that GH residues 32-46, missing in hGH20K, constitute all or part of the region of hGH22K producing this response, or that the different primary structures of the two hormones result in tertiary structural differences and altered biological activity.

Key-Words

Growth Hormone - 20,000-Dalton Growth Hormone - Free Fatty Acids - Insulin