Researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil have made a groundbreaking discovery about growth hormone (GH), a key player in building bones and muscles.
They’ve found that GH also plays a crucial role in controlling anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress, offering new insights into these challenging neuropsychiatric disorders.
Their study, featured in the Journal of Neuroscience, reveals for the first time the specific brain cells that GH acts on to influence these mental health conditions.
The team’s experiments with mice showed that male mice missing GH receptors in certain neurons had more anxiety.
However, lacking these receptors also reduced fear memory, a major component of post-traumatic stress disorder, in both male and female mice.
This suggests that GH’s effects on the brain are complex and might lead to new drugs for treating anxiety.
Dr. José Donato Júnior, the study’s lead researcher, explained that understanding GH’s role offers a new way of looking at why some people are more prone to these disorders, possibly because of different levels of GH secretion.
To study this, the researchers used various tests to see how the mice explored their environment and responded to risks.
They found that GH affects neurons that release somatostatin, a peptide involved in regulating many bodily processes, including hormone release.
Interestingly, the study didn’t find the same increase in anxiety-like behavior in female mice, which Dr. Donato believes could be due to differences in brain structure between males and females.
This aligns with the fact that some neurological disorders also vary between men and women.
The world is full of people struggling with neuropsychiatric disorders, and while we know they can be caused by many factors – like stress, genetics, and social pressures – the role of hormones in these conditions is becoming increasingly clear.
For instance, changes in sex hormones like estradiol can affect anxiety and depression in both rodents and humans. Similarly, glucocorticoids, a type of steroid hormone, may also contribute to these disorders.
This study is significant because it’s the first to uncover the specific way GH influences neurons linked to neuropsychiatric disorders.
The team discovered that GH alters the structure and connections of neurons that secrete somatostatin, affecting anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and fear memory.
Another interesting finding is the link between chronic stress, the hormone ghrelin (which triggers GH secretion), and the development of fear memory and post-traumatic stress. This further underscores GH’s role in these mental health issues.
In humans, GH is secreted by the pituitary gland and is essential for growth, particularly during childhood, adolescence, and pregnancy.
Its deficiency can lead to growth problems and has been linked to higher rates of anxiety and depression, though the exact cause was previously unclear.
The researchers’ work with mice isolated GH’s direct effects on anxiety disorders, paving the way for new treatments.
The team now plans to explore GH’s role during pregnancy, as GH levels peak during this time, and post-partum depression rates also rise.
They aim to understand how hormone secretion during and after pregnancy might contribute to mental illnesses, acknowledging that these disorders are also influenced by social and economic factors.
If you care about health, please read studies that scientists find a core feature of depression and this metal in the brain strongly linked to depression.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about drug for mental health that may harm the brain, and results showing this therapy more effective than ketamine in treating severe depression.
The research findings can be found in The Journal of Neuroscience.
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