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NOMENCLATURE
The
nomenclature for growth hormone is a bit complicated, but understanding
it from the beginning can save much confusion in the future.
Somatropin refers to growth hormone of the same amino acid sequence
as the naturally occurring growth hormone. Somatropin extracted
from the human pituitary gland was originally designated (hGH, or
pit-hGH).
Manufactured growth hormone is made by recombinant DNA technology.
This is a system of genetically modifying either bacteria cells
or mammalian cells in tissue culture so that they include in their
genome, the gene that directs the cell to make human growth hormone.
As the cells in the tissue culture grow and function, they will
synthesize human growth hormone by the exact same process in the
human pituitary. Since this is a natural process, human growth hormone
is not considered a synthetic.
The proper abbreviation for manufactured (recombinant) human growth
hormone is rGH. Unfortunately, the abbreviations have been misused
even in the medical community, and recombinant human growth hormone
is commonly represented by the abbreviation hGH. The designation
is no longer critical since human growth hormone of pituitary origin
is no longer used in the United States, or anywhere in the world
that I'm aware of.
The term hGH or GH therefore, refers to human growth hormone from
recombinant DNA technology. It is pure and 100% free of any contaminants
or micro-organisms.
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