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 reproduction, and the control of metabolism during the whole lifespan. Since the last GH Congress held in 1987, GH studies using the molecular biological approach have resulted in the puri fication, cloning and expression of the human GH (hGH) recep tor and binding protein, in new and exciting information on the insulin-like growth factors (IGF) and their paracrine and autocrine roles, and in the awareness that a panoply of binding proteins are present in the extracellular fluids and can, possibly, modulate IGF-receptor interactions and, thus, IGF actions. Finally, the availability of large amounts of biosynthetic hGH, besides allow ing more extensive clinical use in states of GH deficiency and extrasomatotrophic pathologies, has permitted disclosure of im portant metabolic effects of hGH during adulthood and, perhaps, aging and in many protein catabolic states.

Growth Hormone

Growth Hormone: Neural Mechanisms of Control at Neonatal and Aged Periods
Studies on Peptide 23: A GHRH-Regulated Protein of the Pituitary and Gastrointestinal Tract
Biochemistry and Cellular Distribution of the Growth Hormone Receptor
Cellular Transfection of GH Receptor cDNA to Study GH Action
Somatomedins
Molecular Biology of the Somatomedins
Tissue Expression of Insulin-like Growth Factor I
Insulin-like Growth Factor Receptors and Signaling Mechanisms
Regulation of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I by Nutrition
Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Proteins: Biochemical Characterization
Role of Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Proteins in Modulating Insulin-like Growth Factor Action
Autocrine and Paracrine Effects of Insulin-like Growth Factors and Their Binding Proteins
Fetal and Neonatal Growth
Use of Transgenic and Genetic Models to Study the Neuroendocrine Regulation of Growth Hormone Secretion
Biosynthesis and Biological Role of Insulin-like Growth Factors in the Nervous System
Mechanisms of Intrauterine Growth Retardation: Role of Fetal and Maternal Hormones
Growth Hormone Treatment of Children with Intrauterine Growth Retardation
Plenary Lecture
Growth Hormone, Insulin-like Growth Factor I and Immune Function
Pubertal Development
Regulation of Female Sexual Development by Neurotrophic Factors
Effects of Nutrition and Growth Related Hormones on Pubertal Development
Effects of Physical Exercise on Growth and Pubertal Development
Effects of Gonadal Steroid Hormones on Growth and Growth Hormone Secretion at Puberty in Humans
Plenary Lecture
Potential Therapeutic Uses of Insulin-like Growth Factor I
Adulthood and Senescence
The Somatopause
Neural Control of Growth Hormone Secretion in Aged Humans
Growth Hormone Treatment in Adults with Growth Hormone Deficiency
Effects of Growth Hormone on Bone and Calcium Metabolism in Older People
Skeletal Growth: A New Parameter in the Evaluation of Experimental Arthritis
Anabolic Effects of Growth Hormone Administration in Adults
Long-Term Growth Hormone Therapy in Adulthood: Potential Risk and Benefits.