Epidemiologic studies have clearly demonstrated that patients with a preponderance of abdominal or visceral adiposity are at profoundly higher risk for cardiovascular disease than those with preferential accumulation of body fat in the gluteofemoral region. Atherogenic abnormalities associated with visceral adiposity include increases in inflammatory cardiovascular risk markers, dyslipidemia and insulin resistance. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and illness in developed countries. Therefore, the investigation of possible mechanisms underlying the increased cardiovascular risk in patients with visceral adiposity is critical, as is the development of potential therapies for this disorder. An elevated risk of visceral adiposity and cardiovascular risk has been established in men and women with growth hormone (GH) deficiency due to hypopituitarism. Studies have been fundamental in establishing that decreased GH secretion is an independent risk factor for visceral obesity and cardiovascular disease in such patients. GH administration has been shown to decrease visceral adiposity in women with GH deficiency due to hypopituitarism, but cardiovascular risk markers have not been studied, nor have men and women with GH deficiency due to obesity in the absence of pituitary disease. Our preliminary data suggest a strong association between GH deficiency, truncal adiposity and increased cardiovascular risk markers in overweight normal women without pituitary disease. This is consistent with limited published studies suggesting that GH secretion may be reduced in morbidly obese compared with lean men and women in the absence of pituitary disease. In this proposal, we will investigate, in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled protocol whether low-dose GH administration improves markers of cardiovascular risk in parallel with reductions in visceral fat mass in the normal men and women with visceral adiposity and diminished GH secretion.
| Dichtel, Laura E; Bjerre, Mette; Schorr, Melanie et al. (2018) The effect of growth hormone on bioactive IGF in overweight/obese women. Growth Horm IGF Res 40:20-27 |
| Schorr, Melanie; Dichtel, Laura E; Gerweck, Anu V et al. (2018) Sex differences in body composition and association with cardiometabolic risk. Biol Sex Differ 9:28 |
| Tabari, Azadeh; Torriani, Martin; Miller, Karen K et al. (2017) Anorexia Nervosa: Analysis of Trabecular Texture with CT. Radiology 283:178-185 |
| Dichtel, Laura E; Schorr, Melanie; Gill, Corey M et al. (2017) Body composition in pituitary, adrenal and iatrogenic Cushing's syndrome and effects of DHEAS levels. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 86:160-162 |
| Bachmann, Katherine N; Schorr, Melanie; Bruno, Alexander G et al. (2017) Vertebral Volumetric Bone Density and Strength Are Impaired in Women With Low-Weight and Atypical Anorexia Nervosa. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 102:57-68 |
| Bredella, Miriam A; Karastergiou, Kalypso; Bos, Stijn A et al. (2017) GH administration decreases subcutaneous abdominal adipocyte size in men with abdominal obesity. Growth Horm IGF Res 35:17-20 |
| Dichtel, Laura E; Corey, Kathleen E; Misdraji, Joseph et al. (2017) The Association Between IGF-1 Levels and the Histologic Severity of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Clin Transl Gastroenterol 8:e217 |
| Dichtel, Laura E; Eajazi, Alireza; Miller, Karen K et al. (2016) Short- and Long-Term Reproducibility of Intrahepatic Lipid Quantification by 1H-MR Spectroscopy and CT in Obesity. J Comput Assist Tomogr 40:678-82 |
| Bachmann, Katherine N; Bruno, Alexander G; Bredella, Miriam A et al. (2016) Vertebral Strength and Estimated Fracture Risk Across the BMI Spectrum in Women. J Bone Miner Res 31:281-8 |
| Karastergiou, Kalypso; Bredella, Miriam A; Lee, Mi-Jeong et al. (2016) Growth hormone receptor expression in human gluteal versus abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue: Association with body shape. Obesity (Silver Spring) 24:1090-1096 |
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