Plasma growth hormone response to growth hormone-releasing factor in acromegalic patients.

Synthetic growth hormone-releasing factor (hpGRF-44) (100 micrograms) was administered intravenously to ten acromegalic patients. The time when the peak of plasma GH occurred as well as the magnitude of the response were highly variable among these ten patients. From the GH response patterns the ten acromegalic patients were tentatively classified into three groups: (1) those highly GRF-dependent whose GH level increased to four times basal, (2) those moderately GRF-dependent whose GH level rose to less than two times basal and (3) those GRF-resistant whose GH level did not change. These data suggest that there may be differences in the GRF-receptor system in pituitary adenomas causing acromegaly.