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Historical Background
The existence of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) was postulated following identification that hypothalamic extracts stimulate growth hormone (GH) release (Schally et al. 1965) and that hypothalamic lesions in rats caused a reduction in linear growth and reduced pituitary weight (Reichlin 1961). Pituitary extracts from these rats had a marked reduction in capacity to stimulate growth, suggesting that loss of hypothalamic control of the pituitary gland might contribute to reduced pituitary GH production. Subsequent observations confirmed the release of GH soon following electrical stimulation of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH) and thus provided an added premise that a potent hypothalamic GH-stimulating factor may selectively enhance pituitary GH production and release (Frohman et al. 1968).
Initial attempts to isolate and...
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Steyn, F.J. (2018). Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone (GHRH). In: Choi, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67199-4_101674
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