Cachexia in rheumatoid arthritis is not explained by decreased growth hormone secretion.

Objective: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) lose body cell mass (BCM) by unknown mechanisms. Since the loss of BCM in normal aging individuals parallels the characteristic age-related decline in growth hormone (GH) secretion, this study was carried out to determine whether further decreased GH secretion plays a role in the pathogenesis of this loss of BCM in RA patients, termed "rheumatoid cachexia."

Methods: GH secretory kinetics were determined by deconvolution analysis in 16 patients with RA and 17 healthy controls matched for age (mean +/- SD 45.