Growth hormone secretagogue receptor secretagogue receptor is activated, a variety of different intracellular signaling cascades can result, depending on the cell type in which the receptor is expressed. These intracellular signaling cascades include mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)), protein kinase A (PKA), protein kinase B (PKB), also known as AKT), and AMP Activated Protein Kinase (AMPK) cascades. It is well-characterized that activating the growth hormone secretagogue receptor with ghrelin induces an orexigenic state, or general feeling of hunger. However, ghrelin may also play a role in behavioral reinforcement. Studies in animal models, found that food intake increased when ghrelin was specifically administered to just the
Growth hormone–releasing hormone Growth hormone–releasing hormone Growth hormone–releasing hormone (GHRH), also known as somatocrinin or by several other names in its endogenous forms and as somatorelin (INN) in its pharmaceutical form, is a releasing hormone of growth hormone (GH). It is a 44-amino acid peptide hormone produced in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. GHRH first appears in the human hypothalamus between 18 and 29 weeks of gestation, which corresponds to the start of production of growth hormone and other somatotropes in fetuses. GHRH is released from neurosecretory nerve terminals of these arcuate neurons, and is carried by the hypothalamo-hypophyseal portal system to