Growth hormone tests: are they all the same?

BACKGROUND

The Pfizer International Metabolic Database (KIMS), a large pharmacoepidemiologic database for adults with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), was recently analyzed to determine which tests are in use to assess GHD and how well they correlate. At the time of this analysis, a total of 15,724 tests had been reported to KIMS. The most frequently used is the insulin tolerance test (ITT), followed in order by the arginine stimulation test (AST), the glucagon stimulation test (GST) and the GH-releasing hormone + arginine (GHRH+arg) test. The ITT correlated with both the AST and the GST, but not with the GHRH+arg.

CONCLUSIONS

For the AST and GST, use of a diagnostic threshold of 3 mug/l does not attenuate the effects of severe GHD.