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Background: There is evidence of functional growth hormone (GH) deficiency, expressed by means of low insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) serum levels, in a subset of fibromyalgia patients. The efficacy of GH versus placebo has been previously suggested in this population. We investigated the efficacy and safety of low dose GH as an adjunct to standard therapy in the treatment of severe, prolonged and well-treated fibromyalgia patients with low IGF-1 levels.

Methods: Twenty-four patients were enrolled in a randomized, open-label, best available care-controlled study. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either 0.0125 mg/kg/d of GH subcutaneously (titrated depending on IGF-1) added to standard therapy or standard therapy alone during one year. The number of tender points, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and the EuroQol 5D (EQ-5D), including a Quality of Life visual analogic scale (EQ-VAS) were assessed at different time-points.

Results:

Conclusions: The present findings indicate the advantage of adding a daily GH dose to the standard therapy in a subset of severe fibromyalgia patients with low IGF-1 serum levels.

Trial Registration: NCT00497562 (ClinicalTrials.gov).

Source: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. 2007 Nov 30;8(1):119 [E-pub ahead of print] PMID: 18053120, by Cuatrecasas G, Riudavets C, Guell MA, Nadal A. Servicio de Endocrinología, Centro Médico Teknon, Barcelona, Spain. [E-mail: Guillem Cuatrecasas, MD, endocrinologia@teknon.es]