Growth hormone substitution in growth hormone-deficient adults: Effects on collagen type I synthesis and skin thickness

Abstract

Growth hormone stimulates collagen type I synthesis. Collagen type I is a common matrix compound in a large number of connective tissues. The aim of our study was to prove whether a stimulation of collagen type I synthesis might be accompanied by a deposition of collagen type I in the skin (cutis). Twenty growth hormone-deficient hypopituitary patients were included in a randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled, prospective, twelve-month study (eighteen patients assessable at the end of the study). The patients were treated with recombinant human growth hormone 0.25 U/kg/week subdivided in daily subcutaneous injections beginning with half the dosage during the first four weeks. During the first six months half of the patients were treated with placebo. PICP, the indicator of collagen type I synthesis, was increased after six months of therapy when compared to placebo. Skin thickness measured by ultrasound at the forearm and mechanically at the dorsum of the hand with strong compression of the skin both increased significantly following growth hormone substitution. Our data indicate that the stimulation of collagen type I synthesis by growth hormone substitution is followed by a deposition of collagen type I in the skin.

Anti-aging Effect on Skin of Autologous Transplantation of Tissue Fragments from Thawed Cryopreserved Ovaries

“…Female hormones have been shown to improve the viscoelasticity of cutaneous connective tissue 22) , and the repeated administration of growth hormone may also provide protection against thinning of the skin in older people 23) . Growth hormone is also known to act to promote collagen synthesis and stimulate angiogenesis 24) , and it has been shown to accelerate wound healing 25) . Because young mice were used in this study, there is a possibility that growth hormone influenced skin elasticity.…”

“…However, in these two groups, elasticity started to recover earlier than in the groups either given estrogen or in which estrogen was present on Day 14 after oophorectomy. This may have been due to some sort of stimulation in the abdominal cavity in a no-estrogen environment, inducing a factor other than estrogen that affects skin, such as growth hormone [22][23][24][25] , which immediately exerted an effect equivalent to that of estrogen (Figure 5b, c).…”