Main description:

This book is a compendium of proceedings from the Symposium on Growth Hormone II: Basic and Clinical Aspects. The intent of the sym posium was to review current aspects of the rapidly expanding science of growth hormone (GH) neuroendocrinology, especially those develop ments that occurred since our last meeting in 1985. The meeting was timely since there have been many new and exciting developments in basic research on the GH axis, and several new clinical applications for GH other than growth have been identified. For example, significant strides have been made into use of the bioengineered hormone as an anabolic in debilitated states and as an immunorestorative agent. Both these areas have received most attention as they relate to geriatric popu lations. Furthermore, recent focus on a novel family of GH secretagogues that complement the action of GHRH has shown that in animal models, these compounds have the potential to restore GH secretion in deficient or insufficient states, including growth retardation, obesity, and aging. Accordingly, these xenobiotics may have significant potential as drug products to stimulate physiological GH secretion and, thus, resist or reverse some of the maladaptive changes in form and function resulting from GH insufficiency. The importance of these agents as drug candidates is underscored by the diversity of molecules that have been studied by various pharmaceutical companies and the recent discovery that non peptide analogs with high oral bioavailability can be synthesized.

Contents:

I. Somatostatin/GRF Regulation.- 1. Pharmacology of GRF and Somatostatin: Positive and Negative Control of GH Release.- 2. Ionic Mechanisms Governing the Control of Growth Hormone Secretion by Somatostatin.- 3. Biochemical and Functional Properties of Somatostatin Receptors.- 4. Regulation of Growth Hormone Output: The GRF Signal.- 5. Regulation of Growth Hormone Secretion in Man.- 6. Mechanisms for Insulin-Like Growth Factor I Regulation of Growth Hormone Secretion.- II. The Immune System and Growth Hormone Interaction.- 7. Role of Growth Hormone and Insulin-Like Growth Factor I in Immunoregulation.- 8. Production and Function of Growth Hormone in the Immune System.- 9. Immunomodulating Role of Growth Hormone.- III. Novel Aspects of Growth Hormone Research.- 10. Further Observations on the Effects of Human Growth Hormone in Elderly Hyposomatomedinemic Men.- 11. Effects of Growth Hormone in Older People.- 12. Alteration of Growth Hormone Secretion in Aging: Peripheral Effects.- 13. Effects of Growth Hormone Releasing Peptides on Stimulated Growth Hormone Secretion in Old Rats.- 14. Changes in Growth Hormone Secretory Dynamics in Chronic Renal Failure and in Adaptation to Moderately High Altitude Living.- IV. Novel Aspects of Growth Hormone Research.- 15. Atypical Growth Hormone Releasing Peptides.- 16. Growth Hormone Releasing Hexapeptide: Basic Research and Clinical Application.- 17. Molecular Endocrinology of Human Growth Hormone.- 18. Growth Hormone Binding Protein: A Modulator of Growth Hormone Activity.- V. Clinical Application of Growth Hormone Treatment.- 19. Growth Hormone Treatment, Acromegaly, and Relationship to Cancer and Leukemia.- 20. Clinical Applications of Growth Hormone Treatment in Childhood.- 21. Medical and Scientific Aspects of Growth Hormone Receptor Deficiency (Laron Syndrome) in Ecuador.- 22. Spontaneous Growth Hormone Secretion in Children With Normal and Abnormal Growth.- VI. Poster Presentation Manuscripts.- 23. Expression of the Short Isoform of the Growth Hormone Receptor in Adipocytes.- 24. Effects of Porcine Somatotropin on Thymic Weight, Thymosin ?1, and Thymosin ?4 in Gilts and Barrows.- 25. Effects of an Acetylcholine Precursor on GH Secretion in Elderly Subjects.- 26. Even Short-Term hGH Treatment Induces Endocrine Changes in the Elderly.- 27. Dichotomic Role of Glucocorticoids in the Regulation of Growth Hormone Secretion In Vivo.- Author Index.