Effects of Small Daily Doses of Growth Hormone on Nitrogen Output in Normal and Depancreatized Dogs

¹ From the Edsel B. Ford Institute for Medical Research, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan

Storage of nitrogen was readily detected in normal bitches which received daily subcutaneous injections of 1.0 mg of purified growth hormone, and was very large after daily doses of 2.5–5.0 mg. In depancreatized bitches, receiving constant amounts of food and insulin, 2.5–5.0 mg daily doses of the same growth hormone preparations either failed to induce nitrogen storage, or caused nitrogen loss. Nitrogen storage was readily induced in depancreatized bitches by large single doses of purified growth hormone preparations, if the dose of insulin was adequately increased during the following days; a small daily dose of growth hormone, accompanied by an even greater increase in insulin dosage, was less effective. Failure to induce nitrogen storage in depancreatized animals with growth hormone alone occurred in experiments in which glucosuria was not increased; with growth hormone and additional insulin, nitrogen storage was induced despite a large increase in glucosuria. These findings suggest: that growth hormone and insulin are both involved in induction of nitrogen storage, that the function of growth hormone is not merely one of stimulating insulin output, and that the function of insulin in this connection is not purely one of counteracting the unfavorable effect of growth hormone on carbohydrate utilization.