Title: Growth hormone-releasing activity of growth hormone-releasing peptide-6 is maintained after short-term oral pretreatment with the hexapeptide in normal aging
Abstract: Ghigo E, Arvat E, Rizzi G, Goffi S, Grottoli S, Mucci M, Boghen MF, Camanni F. Growth hormonereleasing activity of growth hormone-releasing peptide-6 is maintained after short-term oral pretreatment with the hexapeptide in normal aging. Eur J Endocrinol 1994;131:499–503. ISSN 0804–4643 The reduced activity of the growth hormone (GH)–insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) axis in aging may contribute to changes in body composition. As this GH insufficiency is due to hypothalamic pathogenesis, the availability of GH-releasing peptides (GHRPs), such as GHRP-6 (His- d -Trp-Ala-Trp- d -Phe-Lys-NH 2 ) which is active even after oral administration, might be useful to restore it. The aim of our study was to verify the effectiveness of oral administration of GHRP-6 in normal elderly subjects and to investigate whether its GH-releasing activity is maintained or vanishes after short-term oral treatment. Seven normal elderly women (aged 65–82 years) were studied. The effect of oral administration of 300 μg/kg GHRP-6 on GH secretion was investigated before and after 4 days of treatment with the hexapeptide given twice daily. The GH response to the maximal effective dose of GHRH (1 μg/kg iv) also was studied. Before treatment, oral administration of 300 μg/kg GHRP-6 elicited a clear GH rise (peak 10.7 ± 3.3 μg/l; AUC 353.1 ± 90.6 μg·l −1 ·h −1 ). which was significantly higher (p < 0.01) than that induced by intravenous GHRH (peak 5.1 ± 1.5 μg/l; AUC 106.5 ±43.9 μg · l −1 ·h −1 ). After 4 days of treatment with GHRP-6, the GH response to the hexapeptide was maintained, with a trend towards an increase (peak 16.8 ± 2.9 μg/l; AUC 499.8 ± 107.2 μg·l −1 ·h −1 ). The IGF-I levels were not increased significantly after treatment (77.1 ± 8.4 vs 84.1 ± 12.2 μg/l). In conclusion, our results demonstrate that, in aging, oral GHRP-6 administration elicits a GH response that is higher than the maximal effective dose of intravenous GHRH and that the effect of the hexapeptide does not vanish after short-term treatment. More prolonged treatment and/or more frequent administrations of GHRP-6 are likely needed to increase IGF-I levels. F Camanni, Division of Endocrinology, Department of Pathophysiology, Ospedale Molinette, C.so Dogliotti 14, 10126 Torino, Italy
Publication Year: 1994
Publication Date: 1994-11-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
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Cited By Count: 33
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