Physiological regulators of growth hormone secretion

TL;DRAbstract

Growth hormone (GH) has diverse metabolic actions that regulate body composition, fluid homeostasis, glucose and lipid metabolism, bone metabolism, exercise performance and cardiac function. These actions improve the quality of life of adults, and confer beneficial effects when adults with GH deficiency are treated with recombinant human GH (rhGH). These important findings and the regulation of the GH-insulin-like growth factor-I (GH-IGF-I) axis are reviewed in detail in this volume. Shortly after the development of radioimmunoassays for GH in the early 1960s, multiple factors such as age, gender, pubertal status, nutrition, sleep, body composition, stress, exercise and several hormones were found to regulate GH secretion (for early review see Reichlin, 1974). Subsequent research has demonstrated that GH is secreted in discrete pulses, separated by periods of secretory quiescence. The pattern of GH release may modulate its metabolic actions. The amplitude and frequency of GH secretory

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