The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of recombinant GH (rhGH) administration to healthy fit volunteers from different ethnic groups.
Non-elite athletes, who were fit and exercised regularly, were invited from the three main ethnic minority groups in the UK (Black African/African-Caribbean, Asian from the Indian sub-continent and Oriental). An identical protocol was used as in the previous GH-2000 studies with white European athletes.
Volunteers were randomly assigned to either 'low-dose GH', 'high-dose GH' or 'placebo' groups. Randomisation to each treatment group was double-blinded as was treatment. Treatment with rhGH or placebo was given by subcutaneous injections for 28 days at bedtime.
The study involved several visits to the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility in Southampton where blood samples were taken. Visits were scheduled before rhGH or placebo treatment and on days 21, 28 and thereafter on days 30, 33, 42 & 84. This study is now complete and the results published in the European Journal of Endocrinology in 2010 (1).
(1) Holt RI, Erotokritou-Mulligan I, McHugh C, Bassett EE, Bartlett C, Fityan A, Bacon JL, Cowan DA, Sonksen PH. The GH-2004 project: the response of IGF1 and type III pro-collagen to the administration of exogenous GH in non-Caucasian amateur athletes. Eur J Endocrinol 2010 July;163(1):45-54.