The pubertal spurt: effects of sex steroids on growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor I.
In puberty, the growth spurt and the appearance of secondary sex characteristics occur concomitantly with an increase of sex steroids, growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). A number of experiments indicate that sex steroids exert a stimulatory action on the somatotropic axis. This effect is due to an amplifying action of oestradiol (secreted by the ovaries or after testosterone aromatization) on the neuroendocrine regulation of pulsatile GH release.
Caufriez
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Laboratory of Experimental Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. acfz@med.ulb.ac.be
D004958:Estradiol / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000378:metabolism*; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism*; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000502:physiology; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology*; D012636:Secretory Rate / Q000502:physiology
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D004958:Estradiol; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I