Abnormal growth hormone response to LRH and TRH in adolescent schizophrenic boys

The authors studied the effect of LRH and TRH on HGH in 10 adolescent schizophrenic boys and 9 age-matched normal boys. Before antipsychotic treatment, LRH and TRH induced a marked rise in hGH in 8 of 10 patients and 4 of 6 patients, respectively. No effect on HGH was observed in the normal controls. After 3 months of treatment with chlorpromazine, thioridazine, or haloperidol, LRH failed to induce a rise in HGH in 5 of the 6 patients tested, but TRH induced a significant rise in HGH in 3 of 4 patients tested. The authors postulate that these results indicate a dysfunction in the mechanism regulating HGH secretion in schizophrenia.