Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2015, Vol. 10 ›› Issue (8): 1201-1203.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.162690

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The neuroprotective effects of human growth hormone as a potential treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Jin-Young Chung, Jun-Sang Sunwoo, Min-Wook Kim, Manho Kim   

  1. Department of Veterinary Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Kangwon National University, Gangwondo, South Korea(Chung JY)
    Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea (Sunwoo JS, Kim M)
    Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea (Kim MW)
    Institute of Catholic Integrative Medicine (ICIM), Incheon St. Mary’s Hospital, Incheon, South Korea (Kim MW)
    Protein Metabolism Medical Research Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea (Kim M)
  • Received:2015-05-20 Online:2015-08-24 Published:2015-08-24
  • Contact: Manho Kim, M.D., Ph.D., kimmanho@snu.ac.kr.
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by grants from the Korea Health 21 R & D Project (HI14C2348) and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF2014R1A2A1A11051520).

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Abstract:

The Neuroprotective Effects of Growth Hormone Growth hormone (GH) is a single-chain polypeptide with 191 amino acids that mainly controls various physiologic processes such as growth and metabolism. GH binds to the membrane receptors of target cells such as adipocyte and chondrocyte, and directly stimulates proliferation. In addition, GH can act indirectly through the synthesis of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in the liver and target tissue. IGF-1 actually exerts growth promoting effects on a wide range of tissue, and leads to the bone and muscle growth. Regarding to the control of metabolism, GH promotes protein anabolism, mobilization of stored triglyceride, hepatic glucose production, and insulin resistance. This perspective wrote by Prof. Manho Kim's team (Seoul National University Hospital) describes the signal transduction pathway, physiological functions in the brain, and the neuroprotective effects of GH with focus on its therapeutic potential in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).