
bone growth and metabolic studies of premature
infants treated with human growth hormone
the influence of exogenous human
growth hormone on growth and metabo-
lism of premature infants was observed.
it was not possible to register any in-
crease of linear bone growth after hormone
administration; concomitantly urinary hy-
droxyproline excretion did not change
significantly.
nitrogen balance studies indicated a
sharp increase of nitrogen retention, due to
a reduced urinary excretion, in all infants.
calcium and phosphorus balances rose in
three out of four premature infants treated
with growth hormone, but the characteris-
tic sth calciuric action of sth was not
observed.  furthermore, sth failed to in-
duce any significant increase in nefa
serum concentration of premature infants.
it may therefore be concluded that the
metabolic response of premature infants to
sth differs consistently from that normally
observed in more mature subjects.
