Effect of bromocriptine on plasma growth hormone and glucose tolerance in chronic renal failure.

Chronic renal failure is associated with high circulating levels of growth hormone (GH) which are not affected by stimuili such as glucose loading.' They may be due to delayed degradation, excessive secretion, or both. Secretion of GH seems to be increased by catecholamines.' Bromocriptine (2-brom-alpha-ergocryptine; CB 154), an ergot alkaloid with dopaminergic activity, suppresses abnormal GH secretion in patients with acromegaly3 but not in normal subjects or in patients with diabetes mellitus.4 We therefore assessed the effects of bromocriptine on abnormal GH secretion in response to glucose loading in patients with chronic renal failure.