Growth hormone response to oral glucose in stable and hypoglycemia-prone diabetics.

The growth hormone response during standard 5-hr oral glucose tolerance tests was studied in three groups: normals, hypoglycemia-prone diabetics, and an age-weight-matched stable diabetic group. The stable diabetic and normal groups had significant (P less than 0.02) growth hormone responses at the 4-hr and 5-hr determinations during the tests, while the hypoglycemiaphone diabetic group failed to respond. The 4-hr and 5-hr growth hormone levels in this group were significantly (P less than 0.05) below the levels in the stable diabetics and normals. These data suggest that growth hormone responses differ in subgroup within the diabetic population.