One study on animals, conducted at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, showed that rats with an HGH deficiency achieved normalized glomerular function after undergoing HGH therapy. These rats also showed an increase in kidney weight, suggesting a restoration of structure that enabled the restoration of function.

Further, since HGH has the ability to counter toxins directly, this lessens the amount of nitrogenous waste in the blood, meaning there will be less of it that the kidneys have to filter out. Where kidney impairment is severe, or where other stresses are already affecting the body (as in burn or trauma patients, or the wasting of the body in the elderly), this assist to the kidneys is of immense value - as attested to by Dr. Chein, "In several studies involving kidney failure patients, human growth hormone's anticatabolic assistance was a lifesaver".

A study that further bears this out was conducted at the Tokyo Women's Medical College in Japan. Here, malnourished patients suffering from end-stage renal disease were treated with HGH. Those receiving HGH showed a greater improvement in their nutritional state than the control group, which did not receive HGH. With this improved nutrient uptake, an improved survival rate would also be expected.

Although much of the data concerning the effects of HGH on the kidney deals with kidneys that are already in a state of malfunction, it does strongly suggest that HGH replacement therapy for those going into middle age should retard some of the prospective effects of aging in the kidney. Amino acid secretogogues may be difficult for a renal or kidney failure patient to handle, and these patients are treated as special cases.