Human scalp hair follicles (HFs) are a major non-classical peripheral site of neurohormone production. However, it is unknown whether human HFs also produce the key hypothalamic-pituitary-somatotropic (HPS) axis neurohormones, its main member growth hormone (GH), and upstream hypothalamic regulator, GH-releasing (GHRH). To answer this, we treated microdissected with either GH (100 or 300 ng/mL)...

Medical treatment of acromegaly with long-acting somatostatin analogs (LA-SMSA) and the GH receptor antagonist, pegvisomant (PEGV), has made it possible to achieve normal serum IGF1 concentrations in a majority of patients with acromegaly. These two compounds, however, impact the GH-IGF1 axis differently, which challenges the traditional biochemical assessment of the therapeutic response. We po...

The initiation of liver regeneration is regulated by endogenously produced growth factors and cytokines and is accompanied by suppression of growth hormone (GH) binding to hepatocytes. We have demonstrated some of these factors, particularly GH, which modulate acid-labile subunit (ALS) expression in vitro. Consequently, we investigated ALS hepatic mRNA and serum levels in rats for 24 h after pa...

Growth hormone insensitivity syndrome (GHIS), a genetic disease characterized by growth retardation combined with high serum concentration of growth hormone (GH) and low insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels, can be caused by mutations in the GH receptor (GHR) gene. We investigated the molecular defects in the GHR gene in a patient with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1). The patient, a 2-ye...

The American black bear maintains lean body mass for months without food during winter denning. We asked whether changes in the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-I (GH-IGF-I) axis may contribute to this remarkable adaptation to starvation. Serum IGF-I levels were measured by radioimmunoassay, and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) were analyzed by ligand blotting. Initial studies in bears li...

BACKGROUND Normal phosphate homeostasis is essential for normal linear growth. The phosphaturic fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23)/Klotho axis is a major regulator of phosphate homeostasis; therefore, an intact FGF23/Klotho axis is important for normal linear growth. On the other hand, GH/IGF1 axis has opposing effects on phosphate homeostasis, but the underline mechanisms remain unclear. AI...

OBJECTIVES To assess effects of GH replacement therapy on cardiac structure and function, exercise capacity as well as serum lipids in elderly patients with GH deficiency (GHD). PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty-one patients (six females, 25 males), aged 60-79 years (mean 68 years) with GHD on stable cortisone and thyroxine substitution were studied. All men with gonadotropin deficiency had testost...

UNLABELLED OBJECTIVES Our objective was to assess the dynamic serum growth hormone (GH) response to clonidine administration in multiple sclerosis patients, looking for a possible biomarker of degenerative process and to correlative with disability. METHODS 21 patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, who were evaluated clinically by expanded disability status scale (EDSS) scor...

Chronic treatment with oxprenolol or propranolol in active hypertensive patients was associated with elevation of serum growth hormone (GH). Propranolol, 80 mg orally, caused a marked rise in GH in 3 of 4 acromegalic patients.

Growth hormone (GH) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of proliferative diabetic retinopathy. We sought to determine whether this could be mediated by an effect of GH on proliferation of endothelial cells, and, for this purpose, established long-term cultures of human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (hREC) from normal postmortem human eyes. High-purity (greater than 95%) hREC prepa...