Growth Hormone Response to Clonidine In Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia

Abstract

To examine whether there are abnormalities in growth hormone (GH) response to clonidine among treatment-resistant schizophrenics, the authors investigated the GH response to clonidine in 20 treatment-resistant male schizophrenics and in 16 normal controls. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean maximal L1GH, the level of GH at any observed time point, the mean duration required for the peak of GH response and the percentage of the blunted GH response between the treatment-resistant schizophrenics regardless of haloperidol administration and normal controls except for much wider variations of maximal L1GH values in the treatment-resistant schizophrenics. In the relationship between the clinical variables and GH responsiveness, under the haloperidol medication no clinical variables were related with maximal L1GH, but 2 weeks after discontinuation of haloperidol, withdrawal-retardation subscore of BPRS was negatively correlated with maximal L1GH. Similarly, in a comparison between the GH responsive and the blunted group, only at haloperidol withdrawal state, did the blunted group show a higher withdrawal-retardation subscore of BPRS.