All issues > Volume 37(4); 1994

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1994;37(4):457-463. Published online April 15, 1994.

Mechanism of Impaired Growth Hormone Response in Children with Simple Obesity

Moon Sung MS Park¹, Mi Jung MJ Park¹, Ho Seong HS Kim¹, Duk Hi DH Kim¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Obesity is associated with an impairment of the hormone secretion elicited by all stimuli known to date, but the basic mechanism of this alteration is unknown, To determine whether obesity is associated with a chronic state of tonic somatostatin, several tests with growth hormone stimuli such as GHRH (1㎍/kg), clonidine (150㎍/m2) and Resular insulin (0.1U/kg, subcutaneously), to obese subjects and normal control with or without pyridostigmine were undertaken, and the Somatomedin-c levels were measured in both obese subjects and matched controls. 1) The peak GH levels and AUC-GH after administration of GHRH, Clonidine or Regular insulin in obses group is less than those in control group. 2) Pretreatment with pyridostigmine increased the peak GH levels and AUC-GH significantly in obese group but the absolute values are less than those of normal group. 3) The Somatomedin-c levels are significantly higher in obses group than control. Our results lend support to the view that chronically high level of somatostatin decreases the responsiveness to GHRH and secretion itself.

Keywords :Obesity, Growth hormone, Pyridostigmine