The various congresses on growth hormone (GH) which have been held in Milan since 1967, the Milan Congresses, have witnessed over 25 years the tremendous expansion of a research field that was based initially upon the scarce knowledge of the biological properties of a protein. GH, whose chemical structure had just been identified and a radioimmunoassay developed for its measurement in blood, became in the following years a major area of biological research. The boundaries have since become blurred, as the research area has extended to the physiology and pathology of growth, puberty and...

Readers of this book can update their knowledge in the fast-moving field of endocrinology and neurobiology. Topics concerning growth and development are extensively reviewed from both basic science and clinical viewpoints. Aspects related to growth development and to the control of cellular differentiation and multiplication are discussed. Further new information is provided on: synthetic recombinant human growth hormone (rHGH); potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications of the neuropeptide, growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH); the physiology and physiopathology of the neural...