Influence of body mass index and gender on growth hormone (GH) responses to GH-releasing hormone plus arginine and insulin tolerance tests.

The aim of this study is to assess whether gender and body mass index (BMI) should be considered in developing thresholds to define GH deficiency, using GH responses to GHRH + arginine (ARG) stimulation and insulin tolerance test (ITT). Thirty-nine healthy subjects (19 males, 20 females; ages 21-50 yr) underwent GHRH + ARG, and another 27 subjects (19 males, 8 females; ages 20-49 yr) underwent ITT. Peak GH response was significantly higher (P = 0.