Clonidine-induced growth hormone secretion in chronic schizophrenia

Clonidine (0.15 mg intravenously), an alpha-adrenergic receptor agonist, was administered to 13 male chronic schizophrenics, who had been withdrawn from chronic neuroleptic therapy, and to 18 normal male controls. There was no significant difference in growth hormone (GH) response between the two groups. There was no significant correlation between duration of psychosis, duration of neuroleptic therapy or length of neuroleptic withdrawal and GH response. These results suggest that postsynaptic alpha-adrenergic receptor function in the hypothalamic-pituitary axis is unaltered in chronic schizophrenia or by prior chronic neuroleptic therapy.