Recent development in the study of hypothalamic hormones with special reference to LH-RH and somatostatin.

Recent experimental and clinical studies LH-RH and somatostatin were presented. Immunological approaches, such as determination of these hypothalamic hormones in the tissue and blood by RIA, immunohistochemical studies, and active or passive immunization of animals with LH-RH or somatostatin, provided much useful information on the physiological roles of these hormones. LH-RH has been found to be useful not only for diagnosis of various diseases but also for treatment of some type of hypogonadisms. Experimental data on somatostatin suggest a considerable potential for practical application of somatostatin in the clinical field. However, the possible suppressive effect of somatostatin on platelet aggregation should be seriously considered when it is used for clinical purposes.