Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE) TreatmentUpdate48, Vol. 4, No. 8 - March 1994
Sean Hosein

In experiments on mice with immune dysfunction, injections of growth hormone increased the bone marrow's production of red and white blood cells. As well, this hormone protected the mice from some of AZT's toxicity. Thus GH may be a potential 'rescue therapy' for some patients whose bone marrows have been damaged by AZT or other drugs.

EXERCISE

Scientists know that exercise can cause the body to produce GH. This release of GH probably helps to build up muscle tissue. Researchers are not sure just how much exercise people need to release GH. In several studies different research teams measured GH production after various lengths and types of exercise ranging from 6 minutes to 90 minutes. It appears that the intensity of exercise is also important. Researchers at UCLA have found that 'high-intensity exercise' is necessary to cause the brain to release GH. In one study 9 of 10 healthy subjects released more GH after 10 minutes of 'high-intensity exercise' than when they did low-intensity exercise. The increase in GH production was statistically-significant only when they performed 'high-intensity' exercise for at least 10 minutes. Researchers do not know the best length of time to exercise so that GH hormone production is increased. Most exercise programmer require people to exercise for about 30 minutes 3 times weekly. Exercise also causes the release of other hormones and chemicals by the body. This may be why some researchers have reported that regular exercise can be useful in maintaining quality of life for some PWAs.

AMINO ACIDS

For patients who are weak or experiencing severe HIV-related fatigue, 'high-intensity' exercise may not be possible, but there are other ways to release GH. In TreatmentUpdate17 we reported that researchers in Italy gave cancer patents capsules of the amino acids arginine and lysine on an empty stomach. These amino acids are absorbed and cause the brain to release GH. Subjects in the Italian study took 1 gram of each amino acid 4 times per day and had increases in CD4+ cell counts. Corticosteroids such as Prednisone are prescribed by doctors to help relieve inflammation during infection in the lungs, brain and intestines. But corticosteroids also reduce the body's ability lo make and use GH. In experiments on six non-HIV-infected subjects, 30 g of intravenous arginine increased GH production in corticosteroid-treated subjects.

REFERENCES:

1. Murphy WJ, Tsarfaty G and Longo DL. Growth hormone exerts hematopoietic growth-promoting effects in vivo and partially counteracts the myelosuppressive effects of azidothymidine. Blood 1992;80(6):1443-1447.

2. Hooghe R. Delhase M, Vergani P. et al. Growth hormone and prolactin are paracrine growth and differentiation factors in the haemopoietic system. Immunology Today 1993;14(5):212-214.

3. Reber PM. Prolactin and immunomodulation. American Journal of Medicine 1993;95:637-644.

4. Felsing NE, Brasel JA and Cooper DM. Effect of low- and high- intensity exercise on circulating growth hormone in men. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 1992;75(1):157162.

5. Arginine normalizes the growth hormone (GH) response to GH-releasing hormone in adult patients receiving chronic daily immunosuppressive glucocorticoid therapy Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 1992;74: 1 301-1305.

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