Effects of hormone replacement therapy on growth hormone secretion patterns in correlation to somatometric parameters in healthy postmenopausal women

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of a continous estrogen, cyclic progesterone replacement therapy on the secretion of growth hormone (GH) and IGF I as well as of somatometric-GH correlation patterns. Methods: The study included 23 healthy postmenopausal women. Of the proband group 13 randomly selected women were treated with orally applicated 2 mg estradiol-valerat (E2V) and 10 mg dydrogesterone for 10 months. Ten women did not receive any hormonal treatment during this time. After 10 months all probands were reexamined and their GH and IGF I secretion, as well as their somatometrich-hormonal correlation patterns, compared with those of a fertile control group. Results: It could be shown, that in postmenopausal women a 10-month oral hormone replacement therapy led to a significant increase of GH- and IGF I levels, however, the treated postmenopausal women did not reach the levels of the fertile controls. Those women who did not receive any hormonal treatment and the postmenopausal women before HRT showed nearly identical GH- and IGF I levels as well as somatometric-GH correlation patterns. Conclusions: The results of the present paper indicate a marked influence of estrogens on GH and IGF I secretion. Furthermore, hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) may influence somatometric GH correlation patterns too.