Growth Hormone and Somatomedins during Lifespan

The various congresses on growth hormone (GH) which have been held in Milan since 1967, the Milan Congresses, have witnessed over 25 years the tremendous expansion of a research field that was based initially upon the scarce knowledge of the biological properties of a protein. GH, whose chemical structure had just been identified and a radioimmunoassay developed for its measurement in blood, became in the following years a major area of biological research. The boundaries have since become blurred, as the research area has extended to the physiology and pathology of growth, puberty and reproduction, and the control of metabolism during the whole lifespan. Since the last GH Congress held in 1987, GH studies using the molecular biological approach have resulted in the puri­ fication, cloning and expression of the human GH (hGH) recep­ tor and binding protein, in new and exciting information on the insulin-like growth factors (IGF) and their paracrine and autocrine roles, and in the awareness that a panoply of binding proteins are present in the extracellular fluids and can, possibly, modulate IGF-receptor interactions and, thus, IGF actions. Finally, the availability of large amounts of biosynthetic hGH, besides allow­ ing more extensive clinical use in states of GH deficiency and extrasomatotrophic pathologies, has permitted disclosure of im­ portant metabolic effects of hGH during adulthood and, perhaps, aging and in many protein catabolic states. Front Matter....Pages I-XV Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Growth Hormone: Neural Mechanisms of Control at Neonatal and Aged Periods....Pages 3-18 Studies on Peptide 23: A GHRH-Regulated Protein of the Pituitary and Gastrointestinal Tract....Pages 19-25 Biochemistry and Cellular Distribution of the Growth Hormone Receptor....Pages 26-43 Cellular Transfection of GH Receptor cDNA to Study GH Action....Pages 44-51 Front Matter....Pages 53-53 Molecular Biology of the Somatomedins....Pages 55-64 Tissue Expression of Insulin-like Growth Factor I....Pages 65-71 Insulin-like Growth Factor Receptors and Signaling Mechanisms....Pages 72-87 Regulation of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I by Nutrition....Pages 88-99 Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Proteins: Biochemical Characterization....Pages 100-108 Role of Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Proteins in Modulating Insulin-like Growth Factor Action....Pages 109-116 Autocrine and Paracrine Effects of Insulin-like Growth Factors and Their Binding Proteins....Pages 117-128 Front Matter....Pages 129-129 Use of Transgenic and Genetic Models to Study the Neuroendocrine Regulation of Growth Hormone Secretion....Pages 131-140 Biosynthesis and Biological Role of Insulin-like Growth Factors in the Nervous System....Pages 141-146 Mechanisms of Intrauterine Growth Retardation: Role of Fetal and Maternal Hormones....Pages 147-160 Growth Hormone Treatment of Children with Intrauterine Growth Retardation....Pages 161-170 Front Matter....Pages 171-171 Growth Hormone, Insulin-like Growth Factor I, and Immune Function....Pages 173-192 Front Matter....Pages 193-193 Regulation of Female Sexual Development by Neurotrophic Factors....Pages 195-205 Effects of Nutrition and Growth-Related Hormones on Pubertal Development....Pages 206-217 Effects of Physical Exercise on Growth and Pubertal Development....Pages 218-228 Effects of Gonadal Steroid Hormones on Growth and Growth Hormone Secretion at Puberty in Humans....Pages 229-243 Front Matter....Pages 245-245 Potential Therapeutic Uses of Insulin-like Growth Factor I....Pages 247-262 Front Matter....Pages 263-263 The Somatopause....Pages 265-274 Neural Control of Growth Hormone Secretion in Aged Humans....Pages 275-287 Growth Hormone Treatment in Adults with Growth Hormone Deficiency....Pages 288-301 Effects of Growth Hormone on Bone and Calcium Metabolism in Older People....Pages 302-306 Skeletal Growth: A New Parameter in the Evaluation of Experimental Arthritis....Pages 307-311 Anabolic Effects of Growth Hormone Administration in Adults....Pages 312-328 Long-term Growth Hormone Therapy in Adulthood: Potential Risk and Benefits....Pages 329-335 Back Matter....Pages 337-343 This book provides an excellent and critical update of the present knowledgeon the action and function of growth hormone and insuline-like growth factors as well as the potential uses of the hormone and its dependent peptides in an increasing number of physiological and pathological conditions. It is of primary interest to basic and clinical endocrinologists, neuroendocrinologists, pediatric endocrinologists, gynecologists and gerontologists.