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The role of growth hormone (GH) in the central nervous system (CNS) involves neuroprotection, neuroregeneration, formation of axonal projections, control of cognition, and regulation of metabolism. As GH induces insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) expression in many tissues, differentiating the specific functions of GH and IGF-1 in the organism is a significant challenge. The actions of GH and IGF-1 in neurons have been more extensively studied than their functions in nonneuronal cells (e.g., microglial cells). Glial cells are fundamentally important to CNS function. Microglia, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and tanycytes are essential to the survival, differentiation, and proliferation of neurons. As the interaction of the GH/IGF-1 axis with glial cells merits further exploration, our objective for this review was to summarize and discuss the available literature regarding the genuine effects of GH on glial cells, seeking to differentiate them from the role played by IGF-1 action whenever possible., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest statement. Jose Donato Jr. is serving as one of the Editorial Board members of this journal. We declare that Jose Donato Jr. had no involvement in the peer review of this article and has no access to information regarding its peer review. Full responsibility for the editorial process for this article was delegated to Gernot Riedel., (© 2024 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.)