Any process that results in a change in state or activity of a cell or an organism (in terms of movement, secretion, enzyme production, gene expression, etc.) as a result of a peptide hormone stimulus. A peptide hormone is any of a class of peptides that are secreted into the blood stream and have endocrine functions in living animals. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peptide_hormone http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15134857 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11027914 ]