Sermorelin Treatment Options

RATIONALE: Turner's syndrome is a disease in which females are missing all or part of one X chromosome and do not produce the hormones estrogen and androgen. Giving growth hormone may help girls with Turner's syndrome attain a more normal height. It is not yet known if growth hormone is more effective with or without oxandrolone for Turner's syndrome. PURPOSE: Randomized phase II trial to study the effectiveness of oxandrolone in girls who have growth hormone-treated Turner's syndrome. Read Less

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the effect of growth hormone on height, height velocity, body weight, and lean body mass in patients with cystic fibrosis. II. Determine the effect of growth hormone on pulmonary function in these patients. III. Determine the impact of this drug on the quality of life in these patients. IV. Determine if the clinical response from this drug is sustained in these patients. Read Less

Circulating concentrations of cytokines, such as leptin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukins 1 and 6 are increased in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). In light of the increasing recognition that growth hormone receptor signaling involves cytokine pathway activation, the investigators hypothesize that maladaptation of cytokine regulation in chronic kidney disease may underlie growth failure. Secondly, they hypothesize that administration of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) will result in growth rate stimulation in pre-pubertal children with growth impairment due to chronic kidney disease by down regulation of the cytokine pathways. This is a non-randomized open-label study to evaluate the effect of recombinant human growth hormone on biochemical/metabolic and immunologic parameters in relation to body composition pre- and post-recombinant human growth hormone therapy of pre-pubertal growth hormone naive children. The efficacy of recombinant human growth hormone to improve growth velocity in pre-pubertal children with growth failure is a secondary objective. Fifteen children are to be studied over a six month period. Each patient will serve as his/her own control. Six months of growth data prior to study is required. Read Less

Turners Syndrome is a genetic condition in females that is a result of abnormal chromosomes. Girls with Turner syndrome are very short as children and as adults. Although their growth hormone secretion is almost always normal, giving injections of growth hormone to Turner syndrome girls may increase their rate of growth. In addition, most girls with Turner syndrome do not have normal ovaries. In normal girls the ovaries begin producing small amounts of the female sex hormone, estrogen at about 11 - 12 years of age. As girls grow older the level of estrogen increases. Estrogen is responsible for the changes in girls known as feminization. During feminization the hips grow wider, the breasts develop, there is an increase in the rate of growth, and eventually girls experience their first menstrual period. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of low dose estrogen, growth hormone, and the combination of low dose estrogen and growth hormone on adult height in girls with Turner syndrome. Patients will be entered into the study from ages 5 to 12 and will be randomly placed into one of four groups. 1. Group one will receive low dose estrogen 2. Group two will receive growth hormone 3. Group three will receive both low dose estrogen and growth hormone 4. Group four will receive a placebo "sugar pill" Once started, the treatment will continue until the patients approach their adult height, and growth slows to less than 1/2 inch over the preceding year. This usually occurs by the age of 15 or 16. Patients will be seen at the outpatient clinic every 6 months during the study and will receive a routine check-up with blood and urine tests, and hand/wrist X-rays to determine bone age. On patient's yearly visits they will have the density of bone measured in their spine and forearm. Read Less

To evaluate specific markers of cardiovascular risk before and after growth hormone replacement therapy in a population of growth hormone deficient adults, as compared to an age, gender, and BMI-matched healthy population. Read Less

To assess the effect of short-term low-dose growth hormone therapy on the mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells from the bone marrow within a group of healthy adults. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to determine whether treatment of healthy older men and women with oral MK-677 for 12 months will enhance pulsatile GH release and increase mean GH and IGF-I concentrations into the range of young adults and will have favorable effects on body composition and functional ability on older adults. Read Less

The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of growth hormone and an insulin sensitizer drug in pre-diabetic adults with excessive amounts of abdominal fat. Participants received a combination of two drugs: (1) recombinant human growth hormone (or its placebo) and (2) pioglitazone (or its placebo). We measured the abdominal fat content and blood sugar levels of participants before and after 40 weeks of treatment. Read Less

OBJECTIVES: I. Compare whether the bone tissue in the spine and hip improves in patients with adult onset growth hormone deficiency treated with growth hormone (GH) vs placebo. II. Determine whether the blood samples of these patients show evidence of beneficial bone effects after treatment with GH. III. Compare the quality of life of these patients treated with these 2 regimens. IV. Determine the side effects of GH in these patients. Read Less

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common lethal genetic disorder in America. Previous studies by our group and others have shown that human recombinant growth hormone (GH) improves height velocity, weight velocity, lean body mass (LBM) and pulmonary function. These positive results have prompted us to ask further questions regarding GH use in CF including: a) Do patients with better baseline body weight and pulmonary function derive more benefit from treatment than those with worse weight and pulmonary function?, b) Does GH use improve the patient's quality of life?, c) Once GH is discontinued, are the positive effects sustained? We hypothesize that GH treatment in CF patients will improve their clinical status and their quality of life. We further hypothesize that these effects will be present regardless of baseline body weight or pulmonary function, and that positive outcome will be sustained for at least one year after GH treatment is discontinued. To test our hypothesis, we will recruit 40 prepubertal children from five CF centers across the United States (8 per center). Patients will be randomly assigned to receive treatment with GH (0.3mg/kg/wk) during either the first or the second year. All subjects will be seen every three months. We will evaluate the following parameters every three months: 1) height, height velocity and Z-score, 2) body weight and weight velocity. Every six months we will measure: 1) lean body mass utilizing DEXA, 2) pulmonary function, including measurement of respiratory muscle strength (peak inspiratory and peak expiratory pressure), 3) quality of life (QOL), quantitated from QOL forms specific for CF ("The Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire"). After one year of study, subjects will "cross-over" to the other treatment arm. This 24 month study will allow us to statistically compare outcome measures in 20 treated and 20 nontreated subjects from multiple centers, and will allow us to assess sustained effect in the 20 subjects who receive GH during the first year, by comparing their results to results obtained during the year post treatment. Read Less

OBJECTIVES: I. Evaluate the separate and combined skeletal effects of recombinant human growth hormone (GH) and calcitriol in patients with adynamic renal osteodystrophy. II. Assess whether calcium-regulated changes in parathyroid hormone secretion predict changes in bone formation. III. Characterize the response to GH in cancellous bone and in growth plate cartilage in patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism during calcitriol therapy. Read Less