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Peak Bone Mass in Young Healthy Men Is Correlated with the Magnitude of Endogenous Growth Hormone Secretion¹

Department of Internal Medicine, Divisions of Endocrinology and Metabolism and Nuclear Medicine, University of Michigan Health Systems and Department of Veterans Affairs, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Mary Russell-Aulet, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 3920 Taubman Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0354.

GH plays a key role during adolescence in longitudinal bone growth and the attainment of peak bone mass. We explored the hypothesis that in early adulthood, bone mineral accretion and/or maintenance in men with normal GH and bone mineral status are related to the magnitude of endogenous GH secretion. Overnight plasma GH concentrations (sampled every 10 min from 2100–0500 h) were measured in 15 healthy, lean, Caucasian men (age, 24 ± 1 yr; body mass index, 22.6 ± 0.6 kg/m²; mean ± SE). Total body, femur, and lumbar spine bone mineral mass/density were measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Total body and femoral bone mineral mass correlated with both total nocturnal GH and maximal GH concentrations even when bone mineral mass was adjusted by height (P = 0.005–0.02; r = 0.58–0.74). Neither spinal nor total body bone mineral density (BMD) correlated with GH. Maximum GH correlated with the BMD of all four femoral sites (P = 0.01–0.04; r = 0.55–0.66), whereas total nocturnal GH correlated with only one (trochanter; P = 0.01; r = 0.64) femoral site. Our data support the hypothesis that GH continues to play a role in the accretion and/or maintenance of bone mass in young men. This relationship is more evident in the bone mineral mass achieved than in the BMD.

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