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Animal Study Sheds New Light on How Sleep and Growth Hormone Regulation Interact

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Posted by peoplic.com on September 9, 2025.
Sleep is known to promote tissue growth and regulate metabolism, partly by enhancing growth hormone (GH) release, but the underlying circuit mechanism is unknown. Ding et al. demonstrate how GH release, which is enhanced during both rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) sleep, is regulated by sleep-wake-dependent activity of distinct hypothalamic neurons expressing GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin (SST). SST neurons in the arcuate nucleus suppress GH release by inhibiting nearby GHRH neurons that stimulate GH release, whereas periventricular SST neurons inhibit GH release by projecting to the median eminence. GH release is associated with strong surges of both GHRH and SST activity during REM sleep but moderately increased GHRH and decreased SST activity during NREM sleep. Furthermore, Ding et al. identified a negative feedback pathway in which GH enhances the excitability of locus coeruleus neurons and increases wakefulness. Image credit: Ding et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.05.039.

Neuroscientists from the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University have explored brain circuits that control growth hormone release during sleep and discovered a new feedback mechanism in the brain that keeps growth hormone levels finely balanced.

The post Animal Study Sheds New Light on How Sleep and Growth Hormone Regulation Interact appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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