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Heart failure is associated with abnormal, endothelium-dependent vasodilation, which contributes to elevated peripheral vascular resistance. Growth hormone (GH) may help regulate vasomotor tone; however, no studies have evaluated GH's effects on vascular reactivity in heart-failure patients.
In this single-center, double-blind study, 16 heart-failure patients were randomized to either GH (4 IU subcutaneously every other day) or placebo for 3 months. At baseline and at 3 months, researchers assessed endothelium-dependent vasoreactivity by measuring forearm blood-flow (FBF) during acetylcholine challenge. Before treatment, FBF response to acetylcholine was abnormally low in both groups. Although placebo did not improve this response, GH treatm…