Influence of Growth Hormone on Insulin Secretion: Studies of Growth-Hormone Deficient Subjects

Previous studies in normal females and in stilbestrolpretreated males have revealed increases in plasma insulin and growth hormone (HGH), after infusion of arginine monochloride, and a sharp decrease in free fatty acids (FFA), which return toward normal over two to two and one-half hours. In the present study, similar measurements were made after arginine infusion in subjects who were deficient only in HGH. The rise in plasma insulin levels in the HGH-deficient subjects was less than half the normal response. The fall in plasma FFA levels was similar in normal and in HGH-deficient subjects, but the HGHdeficient group failed to restore their FFA levels to control values over the time of the experiment.