Effects of long-lasting sulpiride therapy on growth hormone secretion in mentally disturbed children.

The effects of chronic sulpiride therapy on growth hormone (GH) secretion were studied in 11 mentally disturbed children, aged 5 to 13 years, five with personality disorders, three with childhood psychoses, one with hysteria, one with anxiety reactions, and one with neurosis. The basal GH secretion and response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia were studied before the beginning of therapy and after ten days and three months of treatment with sulpiride (8 mg/kg body weight). No modifications in basal levels of GH or in the response to the stimulus were observed after ten days of therapy. After three months of treatment a blunted GH response to the stimulation was observed in three subjects, one of whom showed increased basal levels of GH.