Growth Hormone Flashcards
Growth Hormone
- GH, somatotropin
- single chain polypeptide hormone
- produced in anterior pituitary
- half time in circulation -20 min
- excess during childhood-gigantism; during adult-acromegaly
- deficiency during childhood-dwarfism
Regulation of GH Secretion
- Hypothalamus:
- growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH)
- somatostatin
Stomach and Pancrease
-ghrelin
-All activate G protein coupled receptors
Hypothalamic Control of GH Secretion
- GHRH stimulates
- somatostatin inhibits
- integration results in episodic, pulsatile secretion
GHRH
- increases GH gene transcroption
- promotes GH release
- stimulates production of GHRH receptor
- stimulates somatostatin release
Somatostatin
- decreases pulse frequency
- decreases pulse amplitude
- no impact on GH synthesis
- inhitibts GHRGH release
Ghrelin
- produced in stomach and pancreas
- stimulates hunger
- levels increase before meals and decrease after
- acts on growth hormone secretagogue receptor
likely more important for: feeding behavior, energy regulation, possibly sleep, than control of GH secretion. Target for design of anti-obesity drugs
Pulsatile Secretion of Growth Hormone Over the Lifespan
- pulses are primarily at night
- number of pulses per day stays nearly constant
- larger pulse amplitude during puberty
- strenuous exercise causes a surge in GH
-typical variations in growth hormone secretion throughout the day, demonstrating the especially powerful effect of strenuous exercise and also the high rate of growth hormone secretion that occurs during the first few hours of deep sleep. Drugs that disrupt sleep in children can decrease growth, at least temporarily. Example include drugs ADHD (Ritalin). After 3 years on Ritalin, children are on average 1 inch shorter and 4 pounds light than their peers however they eventually catch up to a normal height if good nutrition is maintained
GH Secretion
- stimulated by:
- deep sleep
- exercise
- sex steroids
- fasting/hypoglycemia
- amino acids
- stress
- alpha- adrenergic agonists
- dopamine agonists (suppress in acromegaly)
inhibited by:
- IGF-I
- obesity
- glucocorticoids
- hyperglycemia
- free fatty acids
- GH
- beta-adrenergic agonists
Effect of Nutrient State and GH
Obesity decreases:
- number of GH pulses
- duration of each pulse
Fasting increases:
- number of GH pulses
- amplitude of each pulse
Insulin induced hypoglycemia
- used as a clinical test to provoke GH secretion in suspected GH-deficient individuals
- amino acids increase GH release primarily by decreasing somatostatin release
- GH in the circulation is bound to GH-binding protein which prolongs it half-life
GH Regulation/Effects
- growth hormone release by anterior pituitary is controlled by GHRH and somatostain
- growth hormone has an important role in growth and development of children and regulation of metabolism. Some of its effects are mediated by somatomedins produced by the liver or by specific target tissues
Release of GHRH
- small-bodied neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus secrete GHRH, a 43-amino acid peptide that reaches the somatotrophs to release GH stored in secretory granules by raising [cAMP]i and [Ca2+]i. cAMP activates protein kinase A to phosphorylate the transcription factor CREB, augmenting the transcription of Pit-1, a transcription factor that upregulates GH and GHRH receptor
- increased Ca2+ levels lead to secretion of GH
Somatostatin
- neurons in the periventricular region of the hypothalamus synthesize somatostatin, a 14 amino acid neuropeptide
- travels to the anterior pituitary via the long portal vessels, is a potent inhibitor of GH secretion, through Gi-protein coupled receptor
- somatostatin acts by inhibiting adneylyl cyclase and thus lowers (Ca2+)i
GH Activation of its Receptor
- transmembrane receptor in cytokine receptor family
- must dimerize for signal transduction
- major sites of action: bone, liver, adipocyte, muscle (also some on kidney, eye, brain, heart, cells of immune system)
- the receptors activate the JAK/STAT pathway for signal transduction- JAK tyrosine kinases 1 and 2
- activated JAKs subsequently phosphorylate the STATs, which as dimers, translocate to the nucleus and act as transcription activators
- leads to the increased expression of CISH, a well established GH target gene
- severe under expression of the GH receptor is a contributing causes of short stature in Pygmies
Effects of GH
- a major role of GH is regulation of postnatal longitudinal growth
- GH has direct and indirect effects ( through somatomedians such as IGF-1)
- Liver- stimulates the production of IGF-1 and stimulates hepatic glucose production
- adipose tissue- GH stimulates the release and oxidation of free fatty acids particularly during fasting. This is mediated by the reduction of the activity of lipoprotein lipase, which clears lipoproteins and trigylcerides from the bloodstream. Lipogenesis is reduced.
-overall GH counteracts the action counteracts the action of insulin on lipid and glucose metabolism, by decreasing skeletal muscle glucose utilization, increasing lipolysis and stimulating hepatic glucose production