Research

Hormonal

Concomitant administration of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) prevents the protein catabolic effects of pharmacologic doses of the glucocorticoid prednisone in healthy adults.

If you are taking high-dose prednisone for a medical condition, you may experience muscle loss. This research suggests that adding human growth hormone (rhGH) can stop this muscle breakdown. However, this study was done on healthy young adults, not patients with chronic diseases, so do not attempt this without strict medical supervision.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
When hGH was added to prednisone therapy, the glucocorticoid-induced protein catabolism was prevented.
Fritz Horber et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 1990

Why this rating

Randomized, blinded, controlled trial with isotope dilution and nitrogen balance techniques, but small sample size (n=8 per group) and short duration (7 days).

Source

Human growth hormone prevents the protein catabolic side effects of prednisone in humans.

Fritz Horber et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 1990

DOI 10.1172/jci114694

rct · n=32Cited 411×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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