BACKGROUND Growth hormone–releasing hormone(GHRH), growth hormone, and insulin like growth factor 1 have potent effects on brain function, their levels decrease with advancing age, and they likely play a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease. Previously, we reported favorable cognitive effects of short-term GHRH administration in healthy older adults and provided preliminary evidence to...

The highly conserved neuropeptide pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) has been implicated in a broad variety of physiological processes. The PACAP precursor protein gives rise to three different peptides, the cryptic peptide, GHRH, and PACAP, respectively, and here we dissect their functional properties using Xenopus as model system. PACAP and GHRH but not the cryptic pep...

In a 30-year-old woman with amenorrhea due to hyperprolactinemia, serum PRL increased to twice the basal amount in response to growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH). Roentgenological studies revealed no pituitary adenoma but empty sella. Bromocriptine therapy normalized serum PRL and made the paradoxical response to GHRH disappear. The paradoxical response did not occur in any of eight other ...

A site-directed anti-peptide antibody (anti-hGHRHRc18) was generated against the cytoplasmic tail of human GHRH receptor. The dissociation constant (Kd) and the antibody binding site (AbT) of anti-hGHRHRc18 were 2.5 nmol/l and 0.54 nmol/l, respectively. In an immunoblotting experiment, affinity-purified anti-hGHRHRc18 specifically recognized a single 50-kDa protein in human pituitary. In a scre...

Hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy (HPO) associated with non-small cell lung cancer in a 58-year-old man was accompanied by an elevated serum level of growth hormone (GH). HPO rapidly disappeared after resection of the primary tumor and the elevation of serum GH was resolved. Immunohistochemically the tumor contained growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) but not GH. These findings sugges...

The pentapeptide Ipamorelin stimulates growth hormone (GH) release in pigs, sheep, dogs, rats and humans. In order to determine the effects of chronic treatment with Ipamorelin on the in vitro GH response, Ipamorelin was administered daily for 21 days to 60-day old female rats and the effects compared with those of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) (10 μg/kg body weight). Daily monitoring...

Somatostatin (SS) and growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) are synthesized and secreted by the hypothalamus, which can control the synthesis and secretion of the growth hormone (GH) from the hypophysis as well as regulate the GH concentrations in animals and humans. In this article, we describe the regulation of animal growth using plasmid DNA encoding both the GHRH gene and the SS gene fuse...

BACKGROUND The diagnosis of GH deficiency (GHD) in obese patients is complicated by the reduced GH secretion associated with overweight. A GH response to GHRH+arginine lower than 4.2 microg/l is currently considered indicative of GHD in obesity. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of acute pharmacological blockade of lipolysis on the GH response to GHRH+arginine in obese patients...

The current study was performed to analyse the potential existence and structure of a GHRH-transporting tuberoinfundibular system in the rat median eminence. The immunocytochemical analysis using anti-GHRH revealed an intense immunoreaction in the ependimary cells, tanycytes, at the level of the floor of the infundibular recess forming part of the median eminence. The basal processes of these c...

In depression and aging an increase in nocturnal cortisol secretion and a blunted nocturnal growth hormone (GH) surge have been described. In normal young men, growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) promotes GH release and reduces plasma cortisol. Here, we examined whether GHRH could help to restore sleep-endocrine regulation in patients with depression and aging. GHRH (4x50 microgram, at 2200...