[Growth hormone and carbohydrate metabolism in myocardial infarct]

The indices of somatotropin were determined in myocardial infarction patients by means of immunological techniques, and those of blood sugar by the Hagedorn--Jensen technique. Single growth hormone determinations were conducted in 40 myocardial infarction patients, aged 45 to 80 years, with different periods from the onset of the disease. In 23 patients the somatotropin and blood sugar indices were studied dynamically on the 1st--3rd and 7th--10th days of the infarction. An equal number of patients was subjected on the 28th--30th day of the disease to determinations of growth hormones secretion in conjunction with the glucose-tolerance test (on an empty stomach, and 1 and 3 hours following the administration of 100 g of glucose). The conducted investigation demonstrates that single determinations of somatotropin fail to give grounds for conclusions as to its secretion due to the wide individual variations of this parameter. The dynamics of somatotropin content depends on the severity of the myocardial infarction in the given patient and does not correlate with the changes in the blood sugar level. Five types of somatotropin secretion were distinguished with the glucose-tolerance test. Patients with decreased tolerance of the carbohydrates tend to have a torpid and perverted types of somatotropin secretion.