BACKGROUND Growth Hormone (GH) is secreted from the anterior pituitary gland. It binds to receptors on the surface of target cells, stimulates production of Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) leading to growth of almost all tissues of the body capable of growing. Growth failure (height below 3rd centile) occurs in children who do not secrete sufficient amount of GH. In some children, however,...

Hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus type 2, and coronary heart disease have been associated with being born small for gestational age (SGA). It has been reported that GH treatment induced higher insulin levels, which has led to concern regarding the long-term effect of GH treatment in predisposed individuals such as children born SGA. In this study, we assessed the effect of discontinuation of lo...

The aim of this study was to examine the anti-inflammatory effects of co-administration of growthhormone-releasing peptide-2 (GHRP-2) and growth hormone (GH) on tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α),interleukin-6 (IL-6) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene expression induced by LPS in the mousebrain. Thirty-five male NMRI mice (25±5 g) were injected through the mouse tail vein with saline,...

The syndrome of adult GH deficiency and the effects of GH replacement therapy provide a useful model with which to study the effects of the GH/IGF-I axis on exercise physiology. Measures of exercise performance including maximal oxygen uptake and ventilatory threshold are impaired in adult GH deficiency and improved by GH replacement, probably through some combination of increased oxygen delive...

BACKGROUND Gestational hypertension (GH) is a common complication of pregnancy and is associated with increased risk of incident hypertension in later life (IH) and cardiovascular events. However, the interactive effect of GH and IH on postpartum cardiovascular health remains unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS A nationwide population-based study was conducted using 1 million individuals from the Ta...

GH exerts pleiotropic effects on growth and metabolism through the GH receptor. A deficiency in the GH receptor gene is thus associated with GH resistance and dwarfism. Complete GH resistance in humans, or Laron syndrome, has been associated with numerous inherited defects in the GH receptor, including point mutations, complete or partial gene deletions, and splice site alterations. Analysis of...

Genomic DNA from 23 patients with isolated growth hormone (GH) deficiency (12 males and 11 females: heights -4.9 +/- 1.4 SDS) was screened for GH gene deletions by restriction endonuclease analysis of polymerase chain reaction amplification products. Three unrelated patients had typical features of severe GH deficiency and deletions (6.7 kb in two and 7.6 kb in one) of the GH gene. The two pati...

background: b-thalassemia major is a serious medical problem. growth retardation is commonly seen in poly-transfused b- thalassemia patients. the exact mechanism of short stature in children with thalassemia major is not well understood, however, it is believed to be multi-factorial. objective: to study the growth state and its relationship to growth hormone (gh) deficiency in b-thalassemia pat...

GH acts chronically on adipocytes to inhibit lipogenesis, antagonise insulin action and accentuate lipolysis. In addition, in some species, but not sheep, GH has a transient, acute, insulin-like effect, while for some preadipocyte-like cell-lines GH acts as a commitment factor. Studies on GH signalling in adipocytes have focused on these latter two effects and have implicated STAT proteins, MAP...