GHRH (Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone) is a hypothalamic hormone that is essential for normal expansion of the somatotrope lineage during pituitary development. GHRH is produced by GHRH cells in the hypothalamus and reaches the adenohypophysis via the portal system. It stimulates the release of GH (Growth Hormone)/Somatotropin from the adenohypophysis. GH is required for normal postnatal growth, having a critical role in bone growth as well as important regulatory effects on protein, carbohydrate, and lipid metabolism (Ref.1 & 2).
GHRH first appears in the human hypothalamus between 18 and 29 weeks of gestation, which corresponds to the appearance of fetal pituitary somatrotropes. It is a 44-amino acid peptide, synthesized by neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus and released into hypothalamic¨Cpituitary portal [...]