Persistent TRH-induced growth hormone release after short-term and long-term L-thyroxine replacement therapy in...

No appreciable changes in plasma GH levels after TRH stimulation have been observed in normal subjects, whereas acute GH release has been reported in primary hypothyroidism and other pathophysiological states. To evaluate the effect of the T4 replacement therapy on TRH-induced GH release, 28 patient volunteers with primary congenital hypothyroidism (PCH), were studied before (11 subjects), after 1 month (nine subjects) and after long-term T4 replacement therapy (eight subjects). All patients underwent a TRH test with measurement of TSH, PRL and GH levels, and were compared to 28 age-matched normal subjects. An increase of plasma GH after TRH was found in 46% of patients without any therapy, in 67% of patients after one month of T4 administration and in 75% of patients after long-term therapy. No changes were observed in plasma GH levels in controls. The TSH response to TRH was inhibited and the response of PRL was reduced step by step by T4 replacement therapy in our patients with PCH. Our results suggest that: (i) Replacement T4 therapy in PCH does not abolish the paradoxical GH response to TRH, in spite of inhibiting the TSH response and reducing the exaggerated PRL response; (ii) the GH response to TRH in PCH seems to be unrelated to low thyroid hormone levels and/or to high TSH levels, but it could be due to changes in hypothalamic-pituitary regulation which are not improved by T4 replacement therapy.