Three-peptide control of pulsatile and entropic feedback-sensitive modes of growth hormone secretion: modulation by estrogen and aromatizable androgen
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Updated: Sep 25, 2026

Remote Neuronal Activation Coupled with Automated Blood Sampling to Induce and Measure Circulating Luteinizing Hormone in Mice
Published on: August 25, 2023
Johannes D Veldhuis1, Cyril Y Bowers
1Mayo Clinic and Graduate School of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. veldhuis.Johannes@mayo.edu
Abstract:
The present review highlights a simplified perspective of growth hormone (GH) secretory control, which incorporates the individual and joint effects of final-common signals that converge on somatotrope cells. Critical peptidyl effectors are GH-releasing hormone (GHRH), GH-releasing peptide (GHRP, ghrelin), and somatostatin. The latter three-peptide ensemble mediates stimulation, inhibition, and feedback suppression of GH secretion via homologous and heterologous interactions. Pubertal sex steroids putatively act via post-aromatized estrogen (e.g., testosterone converted to estradiol by aromatase) to augment sensitivity to GHRH, potentiate GHRP action, and mute somatostatin restraint. The dynamic interactions in this three-peptide network, rather than the activity of any single effector, subserve core adaptations in GH secretion across development.
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