International Journal of Molecular Sciences

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Growth Hormone Axis and Stress Biology

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Dear Colleagues,

Stress is a broad term that can refer to the adrenal response to noxious stimuli, both physiological and psychological, metabolic perturbances such as nutrient imbalances or exogenous insults such as toxins. Importantly, the somatotropic and HPA axes often converge on pathways involved in mitigating the response to stress, regardless of the root cause, as well as having a significant degree of crosstalk to modulate each other’s activities. The Special Issue “Growth Hormone Axis and Stress” of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences will provide an overview of the role of GH signaling in modulating the response to stress through a series of original research articles and reviews.

Topics include:

GH/IGF axis and HPA axis activity
Glucocorticoids and somatotrope function
Diet, GH, and POMC activity
Ghrelin and stress related behaviors
GH and Nrf2 activity
GH and stress resistance pituitary mutants
GH and oxidative stress
GH and ER stress
Stress, GH, and muscle function
Glucocorticoids and IGF-I signaling
Stress and obesity
Social stress and GH signaling

Dr. James M. Harper
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Glucocorticoids
Cortisol
Corticosterone
Cortistatin
Adrenocorticotropic hormone
Growth Hormone
Insulin-like growth factor-I
Ghrelin
HPA axis
Somatotropic axis
Stress
Oxidative stress
ER Stress
Metabolic Stress
Cytotoxic stress

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

15 pages, 2636 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Growth Hormone Receptor Ablation in Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Cells

by Willian O. dos Santos, Daniela O. Gusmao, Frederick Wasinski, Edward O. List, John J. Kopchick and Jose Donato Jr.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(18), 9908; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22189908 - 14 Sep 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2580

Abstract

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) cells are the dominant neuronal population responsive to the growth hormone (GH) in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH). However, the physiological importance of GH receptor (GHR) signaling in CRH neurons is currently unknown. Thus, the main objective of the present study was to investigate the consequences of GHR ablation in CRH-expressing cells of male and female mice. GHR ablation in CRH cells did not cause significant changes in body weight, body composition, food intake, substrate oxidation, locomotor activity, glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, counterregulatory response to 2-deoxy-D-glucose and ghrelin-induced food intake. However, reduced energy expenditure was observed in female mice carrying GHR ablation in CRH cells. The absence of GHR in CRH cells did not affect anxiety, circadian glucocorticoid levels or restraint-stress-induced corticosterone secretion and activation of PVH neurons in both male and female mice. In summary, GHR ablation, specifically in CRH-expressing neurons, does not lead to major alterations in metabolism, hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, acute stress response or anxiety in mice. Considering the previous studies showing that central GHR signaling regulates homeostasis in situations of metabolic stress, future studies are still necessary to identify the potential physiological importance of GH action on CRH neurons. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth Hormone Axis and Stress Biology)

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Review

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12 pages, 1243 KiB

Open AccessReview

Growth Hormone and the Human Hair Follicle

by Elijah J. Horesh, Jérémy Chéret and Ralf Paus

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(24), 13205; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms222413205 - 8 Dec 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 7623

Abstract

Ever since the discoveries that human hair follicles (HFs) display the functional peripheral equivalent of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, exhibit elements of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis, and even generate melatonin and prolactin, human hair research has proven to be a treasure chest for the exploration of neurohormone functions. However, growth hormone (GH), one of the dominant neurohormones of human neuroendocrine physiology, remains to be fully explored in this context. This is interesting since it has long been appreciated clinically that excessive GH serum levels induce distinct human skin pathology. Acromegaly, or GH excess, is associated with hypertrichosis, excessive androgen-independent growth of body hair, and hirsutism in females, while dysfunctional GH receptor-mediated signaling (Laron syndrome) is associated with alopecia and prominent HF defects. The outer root sheath keratinocytes have recently been shown to express functional GH receptors. Furthermore, and contrary to its name, recombinant human GH is known to inhibit female human scalp HFs’ growth ex vivo, likely via stimulating the expression of the catagen-inducing growth factor, TGF-β2. These limited available data encourage one to systematically explore the largely uncharted role of GH in human HF biology to uncover nonclassical functions of this core neurohormone in human skin physiology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth Hormone Axis and Stress Biology)

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