Measuring A Response

Secretropin - SRx

The GH, IGF-1, and IGFBP-3; The Relationship

Growth Hormone: The half-life of human growth hormone in serum is about 20 minutes making it an unreliable hormone to measure on a random basis since its measurement represents a snapshot of the blood.

Urine Growth Hormone: Either by 24 hour or first morning urine testing the level of human growth hormone can be accurately measured. This mode of testing in conjunction with IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 is gaining ground as a reproducable means of diagnosing Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency.

Insulin-like Growth Factor-1: The half-life of IGF-1 has for many years been accepted as being 20 hours while in fact, it is only 8 minutes. The extended half-life is based upon its prolonged survival in the blood when attached to the carrier protein IGFBP-3. Therefore, like measurement of GH, IGF-1's short half-life make its random testing unreliable.

IGF Binding Protein-3: This protein is responsible for binding to IGF-1 thereby extending its half-life from 8 minutes to 20 hours. Free or unbound BP-3 has a half-life of 20 hours. This makes BP-3 an ideal inferential marker for growth hormone since (so far) only GH, Estradiol and Quercitin increase the production of IGFBP-3 from the liver.

Initial Testing

Results

IGF-1

Less than 150ng/ml

IGFBP-3

Less than 3000ng/ml

Urine Growth Hormone

Less than 500 ug/g Creatine

DHEA-s

Median for gender at 25-25 y/o

Free Testosterone

Median for gender at 25-25 y/o

Dihydrotestosterone

Median for gender at 25-25 y/o

Estradiol (E2)

Median for gender at 25-25 y/o

Pregnenolone

Median for gender at 25-25 y/o

Follow-up Testing

Results

IGF-1

Less than 150ng/ml

IGFBP-3

Less than 3000ng/ml

Urine Growth Hormone

Less than 500 ug/g Creatine

Ideally, all three of these tests need to be low in order to support a diagnosis of Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency. Due to Secretropin's ability to increase GH/IGF-1 and BP-3, we recommend an initial three month trial in any patient that is non-medically challenged before deciding on injectable Growth Hormone. As always, the final decision will be between the physician and the patient.