Growth hormone levels in psoriasis.

Plasma growth-hormone levels in 12 fasting psoriatics were 4.4 +/- 1.4 mU/l (mean +/- SEM), compared to 2.7 +/- 1.7 in 5 patients with eczema and 1.2 +/- 0.3 in 6 normal subjects. The differences in mean values were not statistically significant and were due to exceptionally high levels of growth hormone in five patients with psoriasis and one patient with eczema. In the psoriatic group the exceptional patients were not distinguished by age or the area of involved skin but they tended to be leaner than those with low plasma-growth hormone levels. We conclude that raised plasma growth hormone cannot be the cause of psoriasis but might be a secondary effect of the skin disease in some patients.