Human Growth Hormone

Aka: Human Growth Hormone, Growth Hormone, Somatrophic Hormone, Somatotropin

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II. Physiology

  1. Polypeptide produced in the acidophil cells of the anterior pituitary
  2. Hypothalamus controls release when triggered by Hypoglycemia, decreased Amino Acids
    1. Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone (GHRH) stimulates release
    2. Somatostatin inhibits release
  3. Biochemistry
    1. Liver converts Growth Hormone to Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and stimulates other growth factors
    2. Growth Hormone is a precursor to Testosterone
  4. Positive Function (stimulates or promotes the following activities)
    1. Bone and cartilage growth
    2. Protein synthesis
    3. Lipid catabolism to Fatty Acids (for energy source)
    4. Hyperglycemia (from decreased cell utilization of Glucose) resulting in an increase of glycogen stores

III. Pathophysiology

  1. Excess Growth Hormone
    1. Gigantism
      1. Symmetric excessive growth in children
    2. Acromegaly
      1. Asymmetric excessive growth in adults (esp. hands, feet, forehead, jaw)
  2. Deficiency of Growth Hormone
    1. Symmetric Dwarfism (intact intelligence)

IV. Resources

  1. Growth Hormone (Wikipedia)
    1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_hormone

V. References

  1. Goldberg (2014) Clinical Physiology, Medmasters, Miami, p. 133

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Related Topics in Pharmacology

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