747 Human hair follicles functionally respond to growth hormone and growth hormone-releasing hormone, mimicking the central hypothalamic-pituitary-somatotropic axis

Abstract

Human scalp hair follicles (HFs) are a major non-classical peripheral site of neurohormone production. However, it is unknown whether human scalp HFs also produce the key hypothalamic-pituitary-somatotropic (HPS) axis neurohormones, its main member growth hormone (GH), and its upstream hypothalamic regulator, GH-releasing hormone (GHRH). To answer this, we treated microdissected human scalp HFs with either human GH (100 or 300 ng/mL), or GHRH (100 or 300 ng/mL), for mRNA by qRT-PCR or protein analysis by quantitative immunohistomorphometry of key HPS axis elements.