Growth hormone stimulates cortical bone formation in immature hypophysectomized rats.

Daily subcutaneous injections of rat derived growth hormone to immature, hypophysectomized rats stimulated significant increases in body weight gain, serum osteocalcin, skeletal alkaline phosphatase and incorporation of radioactive thymidine and proline into the compact bone of femurs and tibiae. Equimolar doses of insulin-like growth factor-II did not produce similar biological effects. The data support the contention that growth hormone at equimolar concentration is a stronger osteogenic agent than is insulin-like growth factor-II in vivo.