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We investigated the possibility of ectopic growth hormone (HGH) secretion in 26 patients with lung carcinoma by measuring plasma HGH during an oral glucose tolerance test (GTT). Only 4 patients had raised basal HGH concentrations; however, these concentrations were only slightly above normal, remained well below the range of our acromegalics and did not result from an autonomous secretion since they were modified by the GTT. Five patients had a paradoxical response to glucose. In the other 18 patients, basal HGH was normal and remained within normal limits after glucose administration. Consequently, we did not find any evidence for a significant ectopic HGH secretion. Nevertheless, a slight ectopic secretion without increased plasma HGH concentrations cannot be excluded since during the GTT some plasma HGH remained constantly measurable in most of our 26 patients. There was no correlation between plasma HGH and any other clinical or biological parameter, particularly clubbing. © 1975., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Some key metabolic parameters were evaluated in patients suffering from a traumatic brain contusion with coma. This evaluation was carried out before and during an intravenous glucose tolerance test (iv-GTT) in 6 male patients paired with normal controls. Four patients presented a fasting hyperglycemia and a low K rate of glucose disappearance, but the basal level of insulin was normal or high and the insulin response to the glucose load was not significantly impaired. The basal level of plasma growth hormone (HGH) was usually normal but it increased paradoxically during the iv-GTT; 2 patients had a striking hyper response. Plasma cortisol levels were always elevated. On the other hand, no gross or systematic anomaly in the regulation of plasma free fatty acids, acetoacetate and amino nitrogen was detected. The paradoxical HGH response was the only finding which could be specifically attributed to the central neural lesions., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published