“…Since no direct effect of opioids on pituitary somatotroph cells has been demonstrated so far, it is generally agreed that opioid effect on GH release occur via hypothalamic mechanisms (1,10). Although opioidergic modulation of Gl-IRH release has been described in the rat (11), most studies on human and experimental animals suggest that opioids stimulate GH secretion by reducing somatostatin release (9,12,13).…”