Effect of growth hormone upon body weight and incidence of bacterial endocarditis in rats exposed to hypoxia.

Somatotropic hormone (STH) administration accelerated the rate of gain of body weight in normal rats, and effectively neutralized the inhibitory effect of hypoxia on gain in body weight. STH administration caused a nonsignificant reduction in the incidence of bacterial endocarditis. STH had no detectable effect upon the usual hypertrophy of the adrenal glands and cardiac ventricles resulting from the stressful exposure. A sex difference was noted in the weight gain response of rats receiving STH.