In Search of the Hyperglycemic Threshold Required to Induce Growth Hormone (GH) Suppression

Introduction According to the 2014 Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline on acromegaly, the confirmation of acromegaly diagnosis is established by finding a lack of suppression of growth hormone (GH) to < 1 ug/L following documented hyperglycemia during an oral glucose tolerance test. However, in this setting, the concept of hyperglycemia has never been clearly defined. Objective This study aimed to define the hyperglycemic threshold required to induce GH suppression. Methods We retrieved the glycemia profile of 44 individuals after a standard 2-h 75g oral glucose tolerance test prescribed to assess GH suppression and performed a comprehensive analysis of two subgroups of individuals (28 reaching GH suppression and 16 in whom GH suppression was not observed). All of the data were analyzed with the program Graph Pad Prism. Differences between means were assessed by Student’s unpaired t-test or Mann-Whitney U test as deemed appropriate. Fisher’s exact test was used for categorical variables. Results Individuals in G1 and G2 were different only for the median basal GH and median IGF-1. No significant differences in terms of the prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes were found. The glucose peak was achieved earlier in the group that reached GH suppression. The median of the highest glucose values of both subgroups was not different. A correlation between peak and baseline glucose value was found only among those in whom GH suppression was reached. Among these, the median glucose peak (P50) was 177 mg/dl, whereas the 75(th) percentile (P75) and 25(th) percentile (P25) were 199 mg/dl and 120 mg/dl, respectively. Conclusion Considering that 75% of those in whom GH suppression was observed after an oral glucose overload test reached blood glucose values above 120 mg/dl, we propose to use this value as the blood glucose threshold for inducing GH suppression. In light of our results, whenever GH suppression is not observed; and the highest glycemic value is below 120 mg/dl, it might be useful to repeat the test prior to any conclusion.