Li N, Zhou L, Zhang B, Dong P, Lin W, Wang H, Xu R, Ding H.
Department of GI and Hepatology, Beijing You'an Hospital Affiliated to Capital
Medical University, China.
Dig Liver Dis. 2008 Jul; 40(7):554-9. Epub
2008 Mar 4.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and
safety of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) in the treatment of patients
with chronic liver failure.
The study included 129 participants; 114 who
had been diagnosed with chronic liver failure and fifteen healthy subjects who
served as normal controls. Those with liver failure were randomly divided into
two groups: 56 in the rhGH treatment group received 4.5IU of rhGH
intramuscularly daily for 4 weeks and 58 in the control-treatment group. Serum
GH, IGF-1, IGFBP-3 (IGF binding protein 3), and insulin levels were tracked for
all participants.
The serum GH, IGF-1, IGFBP-3, and insulin levels in
patients with chronic liver failure were significantly different than the levels
in the normal controls. Those patients who were treated with rhGH showed a
significant increase in serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3, albumin, proalbumin, and
cholesterol levels while serum GH and insulin levels decreased. The study
compared survival rates in the rhGH treatment and control-treatment groups after
2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months of treatment. Survival rates with rhGH
treatment were significantly higher, particularly at 3 and 6 months.
The
researchers concluded that rhGH replacement therapy increased albumin and tended
to improve survival in adult patients with chronic liver failure.
