Detecting and treating growth hormone deficiency
Described herein is a new oral method for using MK-0677 for detecting growth hormone (GH) deficiency (GHD). Also described is a method of treating growth hormone (GH) deficiency (GHD) in children with a functional hypothalamic-pituitary GH axis.
1. A method of treating growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in children, comprising the step of administering a therapeutically effective amount of MK-0677 to a child known to have short stature and equivalent growth potential compared to rhGH, wherein the therapeutically effective amount is 0.1-0.8 mg/kg/d and a child has equivalent growth potential compared to rhGH when the child has: (i) a peak serum GH ≥5 μg/L in response to a single oral dose of MK-0677; and (ii) a baseline serum IGF-I of >30 ng/mL.
2. A method of treating growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in children, comprising the step of administering a therapeutically effective amount of MK-0677 to a child known to have short stature and equivalent growth potential compared to rhGH, wherein the therapeutically effective amount is 0.8-2.0 mg/kg/d and a child has equivalent growth potential compared to rhGH when the child has: (i) a peak serum GH ≥5 μg/L in response to a single oral dose of MK-0677; and (ii) a baseline serum IGF-I of >30 ng/mL.