Weekly growth hormone replacement therapy may have metabolic benefits
Switching from daily growth hormone (GH) replacement therapy to a weekly regimen using somapacitan in patients with adult growth hormone deficiency (AGHD) may lead to significant improvements in metabolic parameters such as body mass index (BMI), insulin resistance, fasting plasma glucose, and liver functions, according to a study.
This switch did not adversely affect endocrinological parameters.
The study, conducted on 11 patients with AGHD, focused on metabolic and endocrinological parameters, comparing data at the time of switching and 6 months after adopting somapacitan.
Body mass index, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and liver functions all exhibited notable enhancements 6 months post-transition (each P < 0.05).
The enhancement in HOMA-IR was notably linked with the duration of prior daily GH replacement therapy before the switch (P = 0.048). However, factors such as age, gender, BMI or liver function improvement, presence of any hormonal deficiencies, and the use of hormonal replacement therapy were not significantly associated (P > 0.05).
The authors concluded that future research with larger and more diverse participant pools will be needed to validate and expand upon these results.
Reference
Abe I, Takeshita K, Nagata M, et al. Investigation of the metabolic and endocrinological differences between daily and weekly growth hormone replacement therapy, somapacitan, in patients with adult growth hormone deficiency: A real-world pilot study. Medicine (Baltimore). 2023;102(38):e34730. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000034730. PMID: 37746989; PMCID: PMC10519569.
