Abstract
Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is an important clinical entity which has a significant impact on a child's development unless correctly diagnosed. The studies by our group which showed that in some growth retarded children, spontaneous GH secretion could be abnormal in the face of a normal response to GH provocative studies gave birth to the concept of growth hormone neurosecretory dysfunction (GHND).
The neuroregulation of GH is extraordinarily complex involving the regulatory control of GH releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin (SRIF) and several neurotransmitters. Recently, our group found that in Rhesus monkeys that had neurosurgically induced lesions of the arcuate and ventromedial nucleus (VMN) nuclei there was no significant alteration in the GH response to arginine, levodopa, and clonidine provocation after surgery but only a reduction in GH to insulininduced hypoglycemia and in spontaneous GH secretion.
GHND is a form of GHD that needs to be correctly diagnosed since it is well known that GH plays an important role in other aspects of body function including growth, i. e. in carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism, and a significant lack of GH may affect a child's well-being during its entire life unless appropriately treated.
