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Undernutrition, Inflammation and Catabolic Illness, and Growth Hormone Secretion

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Growth Hormone Deficiency

Abstract

The adjustment that the human body undergoes in states of fasting and chronic starvation is a fascinating example of nature’s indispensable phenomenon of adaptation. In an attempt to preserve basic metabolic functions and to provide essential fuels to the brain, malnourished individuals develop a state of growth hormone excess, which should facilitate increased lipolysis and availability of gluconeogenic substrates, while hepatic GH resistance results in low IGF-I levels and conservation of energy otherwise expended for primarily IGF-I-dependent functions (such as statural growth and bone accrual). The neuroendocrine secretion of GH is profoundly sensitive to alterations in nutritional status, with this regulation being species specific. Humans are characterized by GH resistance that is associated with elevated GH and low IGF-I levels. In contrast, rodents exhibit low systemic levels of GH [1] and yet demonstrate GH resistance with decreased IGF-I response to GH injections and infusions [2].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School, Suite 615, 101, Merrimac St, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Charumathi Baskaran & Madhusmita Misra

  2. Pediatric Endocrine Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Suite 615, 101, Merrimac St, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Charumathi Baskaran & Madhusmita Misra

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  1. Charumathi Baskaran
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  2. Madhusmita Misra
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Correspondence to Charumathi Baskaran .

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  1. Harvard Medical School , Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Laurie E. Cohen

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Baskaran, C., Misra, M. (2016). Undernutrition, Inflammation and Catabolic Illness, and Growth Hormone Secretion. In: Cohen, L. (eds) Growth Hormone Deficiency. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28038-7_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28038-7_5

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