Radioreceptor-inactive growth hormone associated with stimulated secretion in normal subjects

We have previously reported systematic discrepancies between radioreceptor (RRA) and radioimmunoassay (RIA) measurements of growth hormone (hGH) in acromegalic patients. Due to limitations in RRA sensitivity, such comparisons could not be made in normal subjects. RRA methodology has now been adapted to allow detection of hGH at normal circulating levels. Since variations in Na+, K+, Ca++, and Mg++, incubation at 37 C and 4 C, and delayed tracer addition failed to improve assay sensitivity, specimen size was increased to 300 mul and incubation volume to 1.5 ml, while holding the quantity of added receptor constant. Best assay sensitivity, in room temperature incubations in 25 mM Tris for 16 h at pH 7.6 and 10 mM Ca++, was 0.66 +/- 0.30 ng hGH per ml serum. Under these conditions, 200 mug hepatic receptor protein bount 15.8 +/- 0.83% of added 125I-hGH, and 8.72 +/- 0.85% of bound tracer was displaced by 0.25 ng added unlabeled hGH. Nonspecific depression of binding by serum did not impair assay sensitivity with most receptor preparations. The basal hGH measured by RIA (antiserum 68-416) in a group of normal short children was 1.97 ng/ml, similar to the RRA result, 1.89 ng/ml (P = NS). Comparative measurements were also made in selected samples of sufficient volume during the 1 1/2 h following administration of hGH secretagogues (insulin, arginine, L-dopa). In these samples, the RIA value was 9.34 +/- 0.68 and the RRA value 6.29 +/- 0.62 ng/ml (P less than 0.01); the RIA/RRA was 1.77 +/- 0.18. Thus, no significant measurement discrepancy was found in basal samples from normal subjects, in contrast to previous findings in acromegalics. The appearance of such a discrepancy within 90 min after stimulation of hGH might be due to RIA/RRA discordance in secreted molecular subspecies, or might arise from peripheral hGH metabolism.