TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of GH administration on athletic performance in healthy young adults
T2 - A systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials
AU - Hermansen, Kasper
AU - Bengtsen, Mads
AU - Kjær, Michael
AU - Vestergaard, Peter
AU - Jørgensen, Jens Otto Lunde
N1 - Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2017/6/1
Y1 - 2017/6/1
N2 - Objective Illicit use of growth hormone (GH) as a performance-enhancing drug among athletes is prevalent, although the evidence of such effects in healthy, young subjects is sparse. We therefore performed a meta-analysis of published studies on the effect of GH administration on body composition, substrate metabolism, and athletic performance in healthy, young subjects. Design The English-language based databases PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched, and eligible articles were reviewed in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Fifty-four potentially relevant articles were retrieved of which 11 were included in this analysis comprising 254 subjects. Results Administration of GH significantly increased lean body mass (p < 0.01) and decreased fat mass (p < 0.01). In addition, GH increased the exercising levels of glycerol (p = 0.01) and free fatty acids (p < 0.01), but did not alter the respiratory quotient during exercise (p = 0.30). GH significantly increased anaerobic exercise capacity (p < 0.01) in the only study which investigated this, but did not over weeks to months improve muscle strength (p = 0.36) or maximum oxygen uptake (p = 0.89). Conclusion GH administration elicits significant changes in body composition, but does not increase either muscle strength or aerobic exercise capacity in healthy, young subjects.
AB - Objective Illicit use of growth hormone (GH) as a performance-enhancing drug among athletes is prevalent, although the evidence of such effects in healthy, young subjects is sparse. We therefore performed a meta-analysis of published studies on the effect of GH administration on body composition, substrate metabolism, and athletic performance in healthy, young subjects. Design The English-language based databases PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched, and eligible articles were reviewed in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Fifty-four potentially relevant articles were retrieved of which 11 were included in this analysis comprising 254 subjects. Results Administration of GH significantly increased lean body mass (p < 0.01) and decreased fat mass (p < 0.01). In addition, GH increased the exercising levels of glycerol (p = 0.01) and free fatty acids (p < 0.01), but did not alter the respiratory quotient during exercise (p = 0.30). GH significantly increased anaerobic exercise capacity (p < 0.01) in the only study which investigated this, but did not over weeks to months improve muscle strength (p = 0.36) or maximum oxygen uptake (p = 0.89). Conclusion GH administration elicits significant changes in body composition, but does not increase either muscle strength or aerobic exercise capacity in healthy, young subjects.
KW - Adult
KW - Athletic Performance
KW - Body Composition/drug effects
KW - Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic/statistics & numerical data
KW - Doping in Sports/methods
KW - Energy Metabolism/drug effects
KW - Exercise/physiology
KW - Health
KW - Human Growth Hormone/pharmacology
KW - Humans
KW - Muscle Strength/drug effects
KW - Placebos
KW - Young Adult
U2 - 10.1016/j.ghir.2017.05.005
DO - 10.1016/j.ghir.2017.05.005
M3 - Review
C2 - 28514721
SN - 1096-6374
VL - 34
SP - 38
EP - 44
JO - Growth Hormone & I G F Research
JF - Growth Hormone & I G F Research
ER -
