Growth hormone and ocular dysfunction: Endocrine, paracrine or autocrine etiologies?

•The eye is a target site for GH and IGF-I action.•GH and IGF-I have been implicated in retinopathy and other ocular dysfunctions.•Ocular dysfunction could reflect local or pituitary GH and IGF-I excess.

The eye is a target site for GH action and growth hormone has been implicated in diabetic retinopathy and other ocular dysfunctions. However, while this could reflect the hypersecretion of pituitary GH, the expression of the GH gene is now known to occur in ocular tissues and it could thus also reflect excess GH production within the eye itself. The possibility that ocular dysfunctions might arise from endocrine, autocrine or paracrine etiologies of GH overexpression is therefore the focus of this brief review.