In this study, dioscin was isolated from Dioscoreae Rhizoma (DR), which is the rhizome of Dioscorea batatas DECNE. that inhabits broad areas of Korea and Japan. To determine whether dioscin induced growth hormone (GH) release, we evaluated its induction effects on GH release both in vitro and in vivo. The 70% methanol extract of DR, and its n-hexane and n-BuOH fractions, induced rat GH (rGH) release in rat pituitary cells 10-fold, 8-fold, and 5-fold higher than the control ($0.36{pm}0.02 nM$), respectively (p < 0.05 each). The dioscin-induced rGH release of the cells was concentration-dependent and its $ED_{50}$ was $1.14{ imes}10^{-5} M$. Within 90 minutes after intravenous administration of $10{mu}g$/kg (p < 0.05 at $t_{max}$), dioscin caused the greatest increase in rGH concentration ($C_{max}$) in the rat plasma ($34.16{pm}14.10 ng/ml$) (n = 4), which was twice as high as the control group ($12.88{pm}3.29 ng/ml$) (n = 27).