Growth Hormone HGH and improvement of heart function
This newer study will be of interest especially to those who have
some knowledge of the role metabolic syndrome plays in diabetes
and prediabetes. Syndrome X it used to be called, involves low
HGH and IGF-1 levels producing a cascade of bad or very bad
scenarios. One, impaired cardiac size and function described
here, can be reversed even after it has occurred, because all the
muscles and organs improve with the therapy.
Earlier studies similarly improved cardiac function; improvement
was noted in other studies using heart attack patients.
Duncan Crow
Growth Hormone Replacement Attenuates Diastolic Dysfunction and
Cardiac Angiotensin II Expression in Senescent Rats.
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2006 Jan;61(1):28-35. Related
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Groban L, Pailes NA, Bennett CD, Carter CS, Chappell MC, Kitzman
DW, Sonntag WE.
We tested the hypothesis that long-term growth hormone (GH)
replacement in aged rats would preserve diastolic function and
attenuate left ventricular remodeling associated with normal
aging. Male Brown Norway x F344 rats were randomized to receive
twice daily injections of porcine GH (200 mug/injection,
subcutaneous) or saline from 24 to 30 months of age. Adult rats
(6- to 9-months old) received saline injections throughout the
study. Thirty-month-old, saline-treated rats exhibited low levels
of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), impaired diastolic left
ventricular filling (Doppler), increased cardiac angiotensin II
(Ang II), reduced plasma Ang II, and increased cardiac collagen.
GH administration in old rats restored IGF-1 and diastolic
indices to values comparable to those of adults. These effects
were associated with reduced cardiac Ang II and attenuations in
cardiac collagen. Age-related decreases in GH and IGF-1 may
contribute to the decline in diastolic function of aging, in part
through alterations in renin-angiotensin system-mediated
ventricular remodeling.