GH inhibits primary rat preadipocyte differentiation and expression of late genes required for terminal differentiation. Here we show that GH-mediated inhibition of fatty acid-binding protein aP2 gene expression correlates with the activation of the Janus kinase-2/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)-5 signalling pathway. Within minutes of treatment, GH induced the tyrosine phosphorylation, nuclear localization and DNA binding of STAT5. Importantly, there was no evidence that STAT5 acted via an interaction with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ. To further understand the mechanism of STAT5 action, we reconstituted the inhibition of aP2 in a non-adipogenic cell line. Using this system, we showed that the ability of GH to inhibit a 520 bp aP2 reporter was largely dependent upon the presence of either STAT5A or STAT5B. Mutant analysis confirmed that the tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT5 was essential for this signalling. However, STAT5's C-terminal transactivation domain was fully dispensable for this inhibition. Taken together, these data confirm a key regulatory role of STAT5 in adipose tissue and point to STAT5 as the repressing modulator of GH-mediated inhibition in primary preadipocytes.