The first domestic experience with the use of human growth hormone in adult patients with growth hormone deficiency

Abstract

The paper presents the results of treatment in 45 adult patients with somatotropic insufficiency. The study was undertaken to compare the efficiency of treatment of the patients with different doses of the human growth hormone Humatrop and to evaluate its safety. The treatment lasted 6 months. Within the first 3 months, Group 1 patients (n = 24) received Humatrop in a dose of 3.0 pg/kg/day, Group 2 patients (n = 24) had its dose of 6.0 pg/kg/day. Later on the dose was doubled in both groups. The criteria for therapeutic efficiency were changes in the body’s structure (LBM, FM), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), and IGF-binding protein-3. In both groups, there was an increase in lean body mass (p < 0.001 in Group 1 and p < 0.018 in Group 2) and a decrease in fatty body mass (p — 0.005 and p < 0.001, respectively) by the end of treatment. The levels of IGF-1 and IGF-binding protein-3 were higher just by the end of the third month of treatment (p < 0.001). There were group differences in all the indices of therapeutic efficiency throughout the treatment period. Side effects were slightly more frequently observed in Group 2 patients. The findings allow Humatrop to be recommended in a dose 3 pg/kg/day within the first 3 months of treatment since the dose is as effective as the larger dose (6 pg/kg/day). Further, the dose of the agent should be changed on an individual basis depending on the levels of IGF-1 and the presence of adverse reactions.