Abstract
Growth hormone (GH) deficiency occurs in about 30% of fibromyalgia patients. Treatment of GH deficient fibromyalgia patients with recombinant growth hormone improves several clinical features, including the tender point count. Defective GH secretion in these patients appears to be due to increased somatostatin tone in the hypothalamus. An hypothesis is presented which relates dysfunctional GH secretion to the effects of intermittent hypercortisolemia on upregulating the density of β-adrenergic receptors in the hypothalamus. The resulting augmentation of β-adrenergic tone stimulates the release of somatostatin, thus, impairing GH secretion.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 72-76 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie |
Volume | 57 |
Issue number | SUPPL. 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1998 |
Keywords
- Fibromyalgia
- GH deficiency
- GH treatment
- Growth hormone
- IGF-1
- Somatostatin
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Rheumatology