Effects of growth hormone and its secretagogues on bone.
Svensson. J J; Lall. S S; Dickson. S L SL; Bengtsson. B A BA; Rømer. J J; Ahnfelt-Rønne. I I; Ohlsson. C C; Jansson. J O JO
Key Findings
- GH is a key driver of bone mass throughout life
- GH treatment raises bone mass in GH‑deficient people but not convincingly in healthy adults
- GHSs (e.g., hexarelin) improve bone turnover markers and growth in short children and raise bone mineral content in rodents
- No clear evidence that GHSs increase adult human bone mass
Practical Outcomes
- For most biohackers, there isn’t enough human data to justify using hexarelin solely for bone health. It may be worth exploring if you have GH deficiency or are studying bone turnover, but expect limited benefits in healthy adults and monitor markers closely.
Summary
The study shows that growth hormone (GH) and its secretagogues, like hexarelin, can boost bone growth in children with growth issues and increase bone mineral content in rodents, but there’s no solid proof they improve bone mass in healthy adults yet.
Abstract
The growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor-1 axis is not only of importance for linear body growth during childhood, but it is also one of the major determinants of adult bone mass. Studies show that GH treatment increases bone mass in rodents as well as in adult GH-deficient humans, but the effect of GH treatment on bone mass in healthy humans has so far not been impressive. Recently, a new class of GH secretagogues (GHSs) has been developed. In humans, GHS treatment affects biochemical markers of bone turnover and increases growth velocity in selected short children with or without GH deficiency. In rodents, GHS treatment increase bone mineral content, but it has not yet been shown that GHS treatment can affect bone mass in adult humans.
Study Information
pubmed
2001
10.1385/endo:14:1:063