PITUITARY CONTENT AND PLASMA LEVELS OF GROWTH HORMONE IN FOETAL AND WEANLING RATS

1974 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. RIEUTORT

SUMMARY Pituitary and plasma growth hormone were measured in foetal and weanling rats. Growth hormone was first detected in the pituitary (66 ± 8 ng) and plasma (26 ± 2 ng/ml) of 19·5-day-old foetuses. Pituitary growth hormone content increased rapidly up to the end of gestation and after birth. Plasma levels were high after 21·5 days of gestation (147 ± 8 ng/ml) and a further increase was observed at birth. The plasma growth hormone level fell to that of adult levels 5–10 days after birth. An early modulation of growth hormone secretion is discussed since newborn rats aged 2 h showed a rapid decrease in plasma levels at 25 °C while there was no such decrease in newborn animals maintained at 37 °C.

1990 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 725-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALBERT BECKERS ◽  
ACHILLE STEVENAERT ◽  
JEAN-MICHEL FOIDART ◽  
GEORGES HENNEN ◽  
FRANCIS FRANKENNE

1976 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Sutton ◽  
N. L. Jones ◽  
C. J. Toews

1. Seven healthy males were studied during cycle ergometer exercise at 33%, 66% and 90% of V̇o2 max. on three occasions when NH4Cl, NaHCO3 or CaCO3 (as a control substance) were administered in gelatin capsules double blind and in randomized order. Plasma growth hormone (HGH), lactic acid and hydrogen ion concentration ([H+])weremeasured at frequent intervals. 2. Ammonium chloride produced highest blood [H+] and NaHCO3 the lowest. These differences were maintained during exercise and in recovery. Plasma lactic acid concentrations were similar at rest. At 66%, 90% V̇o2 max. and recovery lactic acid was highest with NaHCO3 and lowest with NH4Cl. 3. Exercise stimulated HGH secretion in all studies and the elevation was proportional to the intensity of the exercise. NH4Cl caused a variable elevation of HGH at rest and 33% V̇o2 max. At 66% V̇o2 max., plasma HGH was significantly elevated to similar concentrations in all studies and, at 90% V̇o2 max., HGH was highest with NaHCO3. 4. An infusion of sodium l(+)-lactate producing plasma lactate concentrations of 3–5 mmol/l did not influence HGH secretion. 5. Exercise is a physiological stimulus to HGH secretion and the mechanism is independent of blood [H+] and lactate concentrations.


1976 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-25
Author(s):  
M. Vanderschueren-Lodeweyckx ◽  
W. Proesmans ◽  
E. Eggermont ◽  
R. Eeckels

ABSTRACT The effects of the infusion in four different dosages (0.001, 0.005, 0.02 and 0.2 mg/kg/min during 60 min) of cyclic 3′,5′-adenosine monophosphate and of its dibutyryl derivative on plasma growth hormone and on glucose, immunoreactive insulin and cortisol were studied in 38 normal subjects and in 10 patients with idiopathic hypopituitarism. In normal subjects cyclic 3′,5′-adenosine monophosphate provokes an increase in plasma growth hormone levels (only when a dosage of 0.2 mg/kg/min is used) without any changes in plasma glucose, insulin and cortisol. The maximal value of the means is observed 75 min after starting the infusion. Dibutyryl cyclic 3′,5′-adenosine monophosphate (0.2 and 0.02 mg/kg/min) provokes a dose-related rise in plasma growth hormone levels which is always preceded by hyperglycaemia and hyperinsulinaemia. The peak of the mean growth hormone levels occurs at 135 min after initiation of the infusion. In all but one hypopituitary patients the nucleotides do not promote growth hormone secretion. It is concluded that exogenous cyclic 3′,5′-adenosine monophosphate and its dibutyryl derivative may not be considered as analogous and that both compounds may contribute to study growth hormone release in normal subjects and in patients with growth abnormalities.


1992 ◽  
Vol 127 (5) ◽  
pp. 416-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koji Nakagawa ◽  
Tatsuya Ishizuka ◽  
Chikara Shimizu ◽  
Yoshito Ito ◽  
Ichiji Wakabayashi

There is increasing evidence to suggest that supraphysiological doses of glucocorticoids suppress growth hormone secretion in vivo by augmenting somatostatin release from the hypothalamus; previously, we reported an increase in hypothalamic somatostatin content in dexamethasone-treated rats. To further examine whether the production of somatostatin really is augmented, hypothalamic somatostatin mRNA levels were determined by the Northern blot technique in female rats receiving 330 μg of dexamethasone daily for three days. In two series of experiments, hypothalamic somatostatin mRNA levels in dexamethasone-treated rats were significantly (p<0.05) increased to 133±19 (mean±sd)% and 153±38% of the controls. In the dexamethasone-treated rats, plasma growth hormone levels were markedly suppressed compared with those of the controls. These results further support the hypothesis that pharmacological doses of glucocorticoids increase the production and release of somatostatin from the hypothalamus and thus inhibit growth hormone secretion, overriding the direct stimulatory effect of glucocorticoids on growth hormone production at the pituitary level.


1981 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. 448-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. G. Scanes ◽  
S. Harvey ◽  
B. A. Morgan ◽  
M. Hayes

Abstract. Variations in plasma growth hormone (GH) concentrations following iv or sc administration of synthetic thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH, Pyr-His-Pro-NH2) have been followed in immature and adult domestic fowl. TRH markedly stimulated GH secretion in newly hatched (1 and 2 day old) chicks and in 6-week-old cockerels but in adult male or female birds of two strains had very little effect, if any. Intravenous injection of 4 TRH analogues (Pyr-His-Mep-NH2, Pyr-Meh-Mep-NH2, Pyr-Meh-Mep-NH and Pyr-Meh-Pro-NH2) were also potent GH secretagogues in 6-week-old birds. The stimulatory effect of TRH or the TRH-analogues on GH secretion was not dose-related.


1971 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Turner ◽  
B. Schneeloch ◽  
P. Paterson

ABSTRACT Plasma immunoreactive insulin and growth hormone of 20–24 weeks' gestation human foetuses were assayed in serial samples following delivery by hysterotomy. The mean umbilical cord plasma growth hormone concentration was 71 ng/ml (range 13–120 ng/ml) and the mean plasma insulin was 5 μU/ml (range 2–8 μU/ml). Following delivery the growth hormone levels increased, but there was no significant change in plasma insulin concentration. The hypothalamic-hypophyseal axis controlling growth hormone secretion appears to be developed by 20 weeks' gestation, and »stress« appears to be a provocative stimulus.


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