Category: Endocrinology

Big Hand Hug

June 29, 2022 By arne hendriks Off

Acromegaly is a serious growth disorder that results in continuous growth of the body as a result of a benign tumor of the gland that produces growth hormone. Before medication made it possible to suppress this unnatural growth patients would simply grow to their untimely…

Growth Hormone Jungle

April 29, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

Growth hormone is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. As with all hormonal pathways the path concerning the promotion and secretion of growth hormone leads right into a dense entanglement of interrelated secretions of life. If…

HPS Axis Pirouette

March 15, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

To soften the pressure of the increasingly dominant genetic profiles for greater human height, humanity at some point may opt to interfere in the cell signaling pathways that induce growth. One such pathway, the hypothalamic–pituitary axis, includes the secretion of growth hormone (GH) into the circulation and the subsequent stimulation of insulin-like…

Thumbs Up for Teens.

March 15, 2016 By arne hendriks 0

We don’t yet know why but it seems younger mothers have shorter baby’s. A recent study in New Zealand assessed whether increasing maternal age would be associated with changes in height, body composition, as well as lipid and metabolic profiles in childhood. The age of women…

Full Length over Exon Deficient

November 14, 2015 By arne hendriks 0

The growth hormone receptor is embedded in the outer membrane of the cell. It has three major parts: 1. An extracellular region that sticks out from the surface of the cell. 2. A transmembrane region that anchors the receptor to the cell membrane. 3. An…

Pruning

July 25, 2015 By arne hendriks 0

Plants grow towards the light. And because getting to the light first is so important for plants, their endocrinological system, especially just after germination, is all about favouring the top branch to grow fast at the expense of other branches. The cells in the top…

The Cell Cycle: Gap Zero

May 23, 2015 By arne hendriks 0

The Cell Cycle is a series of articles on the mechanisms and substances that regulate cell growth. The contemporary cell climate is one of constant biological and cultural high pressure to grow, to proliferate, to expand and conquer. The Incredible Shrinking Man wants to investigate…

The Turkish Seat

April 20, 2015 By arne hendriks 0

The Turkish Seat, also known as the Sella Turcica, forms a bony throne for one of the most important protagonists in our ambitious desire for a smaller human species: the pituitary gland. It is here within the deepest part of the cavity (called the hypophysial fossa) above…

The Cell Cycle: Détente

April 7, 2015 By arne hendriks 0

The Cell Cycle is a series of articles on the mechanisms and substances that regulate cell growth. The contemporary cell climate is one of constant biological and cultural high pressure to grow, to proliferate, to expand and conquer. The Incredible Shrinking Man wants to investigate…

The Curious Case of Adam Rainer

May 10, 2014 By arne hendriks 0

When he was 18 years old, Adam Rainer was 138 cm’s tall, which classified him as a dwarf. Around that time however he developed a benign tumour in his pituitary gland which stimulated the excessive production of growth hormone. As a consequence he started to increase…

Pit-1

January 13, 2014 By arne hendriks 0

Human height is the result of how genetic height potential is turned into reality by circumstance. From the first whispers of life in the womb, the DNA in the nuclei of the embryo’s cells ‘monitors’ what situation to expect at birth, and develops the body…

Growth Antagonists: Estrogenic Gadfly

October 25, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

Estrogens are the primary female sex hormones. They play a pivotal role in growth, especially during puberty when estrogen modulates growth in coordinance with growth hormones and IGF-1. But estrogen plays an equally important role in ending the growth cycle. It stimulates the closure of…

Growth Antagonists: Delta Cells

August 13, 2013 By arne hendriks 1

The growth of the human body is a highly complex process with many growth agonists and -antagonists taking centre stage at different times. In Growth Antagonists we each time zoom in on one of the key players as we’re trying to understand the puzzle of…

Fish Representatives

February 16, 2013 By arne hendriks 1

In most genetics research, Homo sapiens is represented by small fish like Danio rerio (zebrafish)  and Oryzias latipes (Japanese rice fish). Both are important model organisms, representing man in developmental genetics, neurophysiology and biomedicine. When we tinker with genes what happens to the fish is…

This Crowded Earth

November 30, 2012 By arne hendriks 1

This Crowded Earth by Robert Bloch is a 1958 novel set in a future where overpopulation has inspired science to create a small human race with the use of hormone therapy. The story starts in the late 1990’s when suicide, crime and accidents have increased steeply…

Pegvisomant

November 19, 2012 By arne hendriks 1

Pegvisomant (tradename Somavert) is a genetically engineered analogue of the human growth hormone (GH) that stops unnaturally vigorous growth in patients with acromegaly. It works as a GH receptor antagonist and blocks or dampens agonist-mediated responses by binding to growth hormone receptors on cell surfaces. Pegvisomant is used…

Estrogen Therapy

June 5, 2012 By arne hendriks 1

Estrogen stuns growth by accelerating the closure of the epiphyseal plates located at the end of the long bones in the legs. When the plates close, growth ends. One reason why women are an average 8% smaller than man is because they produce more estrogen,…

Closing the Bone

May 13, 2012 By arne hendriks 1

Much of our height is determined by the length of our legs, which in turn is determined by the activity of the epiphyseal plates. These plates, located at the end of the thigh bone, function as the center for cartilage and bonecell production during childhood…

Immunity & Indirect Short Stature

April 29, 2012 By arne hendriks 0

Pygmies’ short stature evolved to equip them for life in the dense forest. But the exact driving force behind their diminuitive size is the subject of scientific debate. It could have given them an evolutionary edge because smaller bodies are better suited to move through…

Tiny House Movement

April 15, 2012 By arne hendriks 0

Fish kept in small tanks remain small because they produce pheromones that suppress growth. If the same rule applies to people, the small house movement may proof to be a powerful tool to curb our physical growth. The small house movement is an intriguing architectural and social movement…