Department of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Endocrinology Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.
Endocr J. 2010;57(6):477-83. doi: 10.1507/endocrj.k09e-342. Epub 2010 Mar 4.
Gender affects the GH secretory pattern both in normal subjects and in patients with acromegaly by an uncertain mechanism. Here, we report the influence of gender on the relationship between serum GH and IGF-I levels and the GH response to dynamic tests in patients with acromegaly. Seventy-four patients with untreated acromegaly (M/F 27/47, age range 22-86 yr.) were studied. The serum GH levels did not differ between male and female (6.1 vs. 8.7 ng/ml; p=0.26), while serum IGF-I levels, IGF-I SDS and the IGF-I/GH ratio were lower in female than those in male (679 vs. 769 ng/ml; p<0.02, 7.3 vs. 9.2 SDS; p<0.02 and 79.6 vs. 141.5; p<0.05). When the subjects were divided into two groups: age <or=50 yr, and age >50 yr, serum IGF-I levels and IGF-I/GH ratios were lower in female than those in male in patients <or=50 yrs (650 vs. 1002 ng/ml; p<0.05 and 59.8 vs. 142.9; p<0.05), but not in patients >50 yrs (684 vs. 680 ng/ml; p=0.39 and 98.7 vs. 118.4; p=0.40). The GH responses to OGTT, TRH, octreotide, and bromocriptine tests were similar in male and female. In conclusion, IGF-I/GH ratio was significantly lower in female than that in male particularly in younger patients with acromegaly. These data suggest that gender, presumably sex steroids in female, may partially modulate the relationship between circulating IGF-I and GH levels in patients with acromegaly.
性别通过不确定的机制影响正常人和肢端肥大症患者的 GH 分泌模式。在这里，我们报告性别对肢端肥大症患者血清 GH 和 IGF-I 水平之间的关系以及 GH 对动态试验的反应的影响。研究了 74 例未经治疗的肢端肥大症患者（M/F 27/47，年龄 22-86 岁）。男性和女性的血清 GH 水平没有差异（6.1 与 8.7ng/ml；p=0.26），而女性的血清 IGF-I 水平、IGF-I SDS 和 IGF-I/GH 比值低于男性（679 与 769ng/ml；p<0.02，7.3 与 9.2 SDS；p<0.02 和 79.6 与 141.5；p<0.05）。当将受试者分为两组：年龄<或=50 岁和年龄>50 岁时，年龄<或=50 岁的女性患者的血清 IGF-I 水平和 IGF-I/GH 比值低于男性（650 与 1002ng/ml；p<0.05 和 59.8 与 142.9；p<0.05），但年龄>50 岁的患者则没有（684 与 680ng/ml；p=0.39 和 98.7 与 118.4；p=0.40）。OGTT、TRH、奥曲肽和溴隐亭试验对 GH 的反应在男性和女性中相似。总之，女性的 IGF-I/GH 比值明显低于男性，尤其是在年轻的肢端肥大症患者中。这些数据表明，性别（可能是女性的性激素）可能部分调节了肢端肥大症患者循环 IGF-I 和 GH 水平之间的关系。
