This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by DE ZEGHER, F. Articles by FRANKENNE, F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by DE ZEGHER, F. Articles by FRANKENNE, F.

Perinatal Growth Hormone (GH) Physiology: Effect of GH-Releasing Factor on Maternal and Fetal Secretion of Pituitary and Placental GH^*

Departments of Pediatrics (F.d.Z., M. V.-L.) and Obstetrics (B.S.), University Hospital Gasthuisberg 3000 Leuven
The Department of Clinical and Experimental Endocrinology, University Medical Center (A.B., G.H., F.F.) CHU, B-24, 4000 Liege, Belgium
Kabi Peptide Hormones (Y.F., F.B.) 11287 Stockholm, Sweden

Address requests for reprints to: Dr. F. de Zegher, Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital, Gasthuisberg, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.

To study regulation of the secretion of human pituitary GH (hGH) and placental GH (hPGH) in the pregnant woman and human fetus, the GH-releasing factor Sermorelin [GRF-(l–29)-NH2] was administered to pregnant women at term (n = 5), just before elective cesarean section; saline was administered in control studies (n = 5). The effects of GRF-(1–29)-NH2 administration on maternal and fetal serum concentrations of hGH and GRF-(l–29)-NH2 and maternal serum levels of hPGH were evaluated at birth. The mean time span between injection and birth was 20 min (range, 15–25 min). Cord serum hGH concentrations were similar in infants of GRF-(1–29)-NH2-injected mothers and control infants. GRF-(l–29)-NH2 elicited a consistent but small rise in maternal hGH serum concentrations (P = 0.08), whereas hPGH concentrations remained unaltered. Finally, GRF-(l–29)-NH2 concentrations were undetectable in cord serum, but readily detectable in concomitantly obtained maternal serum.

In conclusion, these data suggest that hGH secretion in the pregnant woman at term is suppressed at the pituitary level, that GRF does not affect hPGH secretion, and that fetal hGH secretion is independent of circulating maternal GRF, probably because of lack of transplacental GRF passage.

^* This work was supported by the Belgian NFWGO (3.0047.89).

Received December 15, 1989.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. P. Lomenick, M. A. Hubert, and S. Handwerger Transcription factor FOXF1 regulates growth hormone variant gene expression Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, November 1, 2006; 291(5): E947 - E951. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. S. Khan, M. L. Fiorotto, K. K. Cummings, M. A. Pope, P. A. Brown, and R. Draghia-Akli Maternal GHRH plasmid administration changes pituitary cell lineage and improves progeny growth of pigs Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, July 1, 2003; 285(1): E224 - E231. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M.C. Lacroix, P. Bolifraud, D. Durieux, A. Pauloin, M. Vidaud, and G. Kann Placental Growth Hormone and Lactogen Production by Perifused Ovine Placental Explants: Regulation by Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone and Glucose Biol Reprod, March 1, 2002; 66(3): 555 - 561. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Coutant, F. Boux de Casson, O. Douay, E. Mathieu, S. Rouleau, F. Beringue, P. Gillard, J. M. Limal, and P. Descamps Relationships between Placental GH Concentration and Maternal Smoking, Newborn Gender, and Maternal Leptin: Possible Implications for Birth Weight J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., October 1, 2001; 86(10): 4854 - 4859. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]