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Value of GHRH prove on panic disorders.

Porras Obeso S* , Girbés Borrás, J., Serrano Corredor, S.

Unidades de Psiquiatría* y Endocrinología . Hospital General de Elda.

 Key words: GH: Growing hormone; GHRH or GRF: growth hormone-realising hormone; panic disorders; sensitivity; specificity. 

Introduction

The diagnostic of psychiatric disorders is mainly based on clinic criteria, but biologic mediators are, each day, more implicated and they help in the treatment. We wrote in previous studies that levels of GH secretion induced by GHRH is anomalous decreased, when we compared with controls, in patients with panic disorders.

 

Objective

We study the diagnostic value of GHRH stimulus prove to differentiate, by analytic findings, the patients with panic attacks from those without.

 

Material and Methods I

We study 134 patients with panic disease (58 male and 76 female), 42.8 mean years old (DS 11.2) and 111control (39 M, 75F) with 35.1 mean age (DS 16.6). The diagnostic of panic disorders was made with DSM criteria (III, III-R, IV) and CIE 10. We measure basal GH and after stimulus with GHRH (1.2 mg/Kg of weight, max 150 mg, iv, at 15, 30, 60 minutes).

 

Material and Methods II

GH is detected and studied on the several times, the higher GH, area under the curve of GH, sensitivity and specificity with distinct points of cut and the curve of diagnostic performance with its area under the curve. The items were adjusted by age and sex with logistic regression.

 

Results I

We show them in detail in the area under the curve of diagnostic performance, confidence interval of 95%, the optimum point of cut and sensibility-specificity for this bets point with confidence interval of 95%. All parameters were valid for the diagnostic, except basal GH.

 

Results II

Parameter. Higher. Mean. Optimum point of cut. Sensitivity.

 

Results III

Curve of diagnostic performance for the area under the curve.

 

Conclusions

Our results back up the validity of GHRH prove in the diagnostic of panic diseases. These proves are another step for helping on psychiatry diagnostic by biological findings.