It is the investigator's career goal to obtain a faculty position in an academic medical center where she expects to develop an independent research program. A Research Career Award will not only allow for the development of enhanced research skills and knowledge from implementing the clinical research project, but will allow for formal didactic training in the basic skills required to develop expertise as an academic independent clinical researcher. Through participation in the IU Clinical Investigator Training Enhancement Program, she will receive the didactic training necessary for a career in clinical research. The environment at the IU School of Medicine (IUSM) is outstanding and she has been given full support from the Director of Pediatrics and the Director of the GCRC. She expects to develop expertise in the use of state-of-the-art metabolic techniques for investigating clinical endocrine questions. The proposed project aims to assess medical outcomes of growth hormone (GH) and GH releasing hormone (GHRH) therapy in patients with Crohn's disease. To date, there are limited data on the efficacy of GH in Crohn's disease. GHRH is a peptide that stimulates the synthesis and secretion of GH from the somatotrope cells of the anterior pituitary gland and is used therapeutically in some GH deficient patients. Interestingly, GHRH is also naturally found in the gut. It is not known if GHRH has local actions in the gut. It is hypothesized that treatment with human GH will be beneficial to patients with Crohn's disease by decreasing disease severity, improving growth, enhancing protein synthesis, and increasing bone mineral density. Furthermore, she hypothesizes that GHRH will have a comparable effect on protein synthesis and bone mineral density. It will possibly have a greater effect on disease severity because of the possibility that it may have local effects in the gut. The purpose of this study is to test these hypotheses in a prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial. The objectives of the study are to assess medical outcomes of the treatment, to evaluate growth, to measure bone turnover and bone density, to access changes in body composition, and to evaluate whole body proteolysis and protein synthesis.
