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Horm Metab Res 1975; 7(2): 139-142
DOI: 10.1055/s-0028-1093765
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© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Effect of Growth Hormone on Renal Sodium and Water Excretion

R.  Rabkin , S.  Epstein , M.  Swann
  • Department of Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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Publication Date:
23 December 2008 (online)

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Abstract

Several renotropic actions have been ascribed to growth hormone, including sodium and water retention. In a previous study we have demonstrated that stimulation of sodium transport and osmotic water flow across isolated toad skin was due to contamination of certain growth hormone preparations with anti-diuretic hormone. In order to determine whether or not highly purified human growth hormone (HPHGH) has an effect on sodium and water transport in the intact animal, we studied its effect in normal rats and in healthy human volunteers. In the rat studies, sodium and water excretion measured for 160 minutes after the injection of HPHGH (N = 6) did not differ significantly from that of control animals following placebo injections (N = 6). In the human (N = 5) study sodium and water excretion over the 5 hours following HPHGH injection did not differ significantly from sodium and water excretion in the same patients studied 1 to 2 days earlier, when they received placebo injections. We conclude that HPHGH has no acute effect on sodium and water excretion in rats or in normal man.

Key words

Growth Hormone - ADH - Sodium Transport - Water Excretion

1 Kindly performed by Dr. G.L. Robertson