Growth hormone response to intravenous diazepam and placebo in 82 healthy men

Growth hormone (GH) response to placebo and two different doses of diazepam (0.12 mg/kg and 0.20 mg/kg) were evaluated in 82 healthy young men. Both diazepam doses had a significant effect on the growth hormone secretion, with peak values occurring between 30 and 60 min postinfusion, after which levels returned to baseline. There was also a small but significant change in this hormone over time after placebo, but this was reflected by a slow rise following the saline infusion. Individual GH responses to diazepam were variable and, when a cut-off point of 7.5 ng/ml GH increase before 90 min postdrug administration was used, 1% of the men demonstrated a response after placebo, 17% after low-dose diazepam, and 37% following high-dose diazepam. The clinical implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.