Usually, the term “hormone drugs” in the mouth of a doctor is usually short for “glucocorticoids” when not specifically designated, not growth hormone drugs. There are two main categories of hormone drugs that we come into contact with in our daily life: steroid hormone drugs and peptide hormone drugs.
I. Steroid hormone drugs
Steroid hormone drugs refer to hormone drugs with steroid structure in their molecular structure, mainly including adrenal corticosteroids and sex hormones.
Corticosteroid drugs mainly include cortisone acetate, hydrocortisone, dexamethasone acetate, fludrocortisone acetate and so on. They have the function of regulating the biosynthesis and metabolism of sugar, fat, and protein, and also have the function of anti-inflammation.
Sex hormones are divided into androgens and anabolic hormones, estrogens and progestins, such as methandrostenolone, nandrolone phenylpropionate, fast estradiol, progesterone and other drugs.
Peptide hormones
Peptide hormones are composed of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. The smallest peptide hormone can be composed of three amino acids, such as thyrotropin-releasing hormone. Most peptide hormones can be composed of a dozen, dozens or even hundreds and hundreds of amino acids.
The main secretory organs of peptide hormones are the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. Peptide hormones have also been found in other organs such as the gastrointestinal tract, brain tissue, lung and heart, most of which are at the research stage.
The role of peptide hormones is to promote human growth and development by stimulating adrenal cortex growth and erythropoiesis. Two representative peptide hormones are growth hormone (hGH) and its analogs and erythropoietin (EPO) and its analogs.
Among them, growth hormone is the most important hormone that promotes human growth and development. Growth hormone is a protein hormone secreted by the anterior pituitary gland of the human body and consists of 191 amino acids. Growth hormone is a significant promoter of the division and proliferation of chondrocytes. When entering puberty, growth hormone, under the synergistic effect of sex hormones, further causes rapid growth of height.
Side effects of steroids and peptide hormones
1.Steroid hormones.
Long-term application of large amounts of corticosteroids can cause the following adverse reactions.
(1) Cortical hyperfunction syndrome. Full-moon face, buffalo back, hypertension, hairiness, diabetes, thinning skin, etc. It is caused by the metabolic disorder caused by GCS.
(2) Inducing or aggravating infection.
(3) Induces or aggravates ulcer disease.
(4) Induces hypertension and atherosclerosis.
(5) Osteoporosis, muscle atrophy, and delayed wound healing.
(6) Inducing psychosis and epilepsy.
2.Peptide hormones.
Peptide hormone drugs are commonly used clinically as growth-promoting growth hormone, which is a protein secreted by the pituitary gland itself. The chemical structure of recombinant human growth hormone clinically used for replacement therapy is consistent with the growth hormone secreted by the pituitary gland, so there are no serious side effects at present.
A few people may experience edema and local injection site pain during the initial period of use. Long-term injection of recombinant human growth hormone causes antibody production in a small number of patients with low antibody binding, but there is no definite clinical significance. In other words, growth hormone treatment has relatively mild side effects, such as redness and swelling at the injection site and skin rash (related to the purity of the product) No irreversible side effects have been found in clinical treatment. Growth hormone is relatively safe at therapeutic doses, but regular follow-up visits by specialists are needed to monitor the indicators properly.