Pituitary Growth Hormone Secretion and Cell Growth Hormone Production: Regulation of Their Secretion and Their Signaling Pathways

Abstract

Growth hormone (GH) performs very diverse functions in the organism, and this is the reason by which the regulation of the secretion of this hormone is very complex; although the primary regulators are growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin, it is in turn regulated mainly by adrenergic and cholinergic pathways, and other factors can act directly on its secretion, particularly on the somatostatin, thus affecting the pituitary secretion of GH. In this chapter, we will analyze the transcription of GH gene and how GH release is affected by different neurotransmitters, metabolic substrates, feeding and fasting, and other hormones, placing special emphasis on why pituitary secretion of GH is sexually dimorphic.