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Updated: May 28, 2026

Orthotopic Ovarian Transplantation Procedures to Investigate the Life- and Health-span Influence of Ovarian Senescence in Female Mice
Published on: February 12, 2018
Somatopause: state of the art
C Di Somma1, V Brunelli, M C Savanelli
1IRCCS SDN Fondazione Napoli, Naples, Italy. cdisomma@unina.it
Abstract:
Aging is associated with decay in the somatotroph axis, that has been considered to cause many of the catabolic sequelae of normal aging. The physiological changes that the human body undergoes during aging are similar to those observed in GH deficiency (GHD). Changes of aging are represented by increased fat mass, increased cardiovascular risk, reduced muscle mass, reduced exercise tolerance, decreased strength and impaired quality of life. Some authors conjecture that the elderly could be GH deficient and would benefit from GH treatment. However, the endocrine pattern of aging is distinct from the decrease of GH/IGF-I levels associated with hypopituitarism, although there is not sufficient evidence for a clear therapeutic role of GH treatment during somatopause. So, further studies are needed to evaluate the real benefit of somatotropic treatment in aging. This review is focused on the effects of the somatopause and summarize the potentials for a therapeutic role of the recombinant human GH (rhGH) or of GH secretagogues in aging.
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