Bromoergocryptin treatment of acromegaly persisting following conventional therapy

Bromoergocryptine has been used to lower growth hormone concentrations in ten patients with acromegaly in whom previous attempts at pituitary ablation had failed to cure the disorder. Plasma immunoreactive and plasma receptor-reactive growth hormone concentrations together with plasma somatomedin concentrations and urinary excretion of immunoreactive growth hormone were used to assess the response to treatment. Casual immunoreactive hormone concentrations in plasma were lowered to less than 8 mu/l and to less than 5 mu/l during glucose infusion in seven patients, and urinary growth hormone excretion was also brought into the normal range (less than 40 micromicron/12 h) in this group. There was at least a 40% reduction in these measurements in the remaining three patients who had the highest basal hormone concentrations of the group. Plasma somatomedin fell with treatment in eight patients, and intravenous glucose tolerance improved in seven of eight patients tested. Used in modest dosage (up to 15 mg/day) bromoergocryptine can lower plasma and urinary growth hormone and plasma somatomedin concentrations in acromegalic patients in whom previous treatments had decreased but not cured hormone overproduction.