This meta-analysis reviews 208 laboratory studies of acute psychological stressors and tests a theoretical model delineating conditions capable of eliciting cortisol responses. Psychological stressors increased cortisol levels; however, effects varied widely across tasks. Consistent with the theoretical model, motivated performance tasks elicited cortisol responses if they were uncontrollable o...

List of papers This thesis is based on the papers listed below, which are referred to in the text by Roman numerals I-V. Neuropeptidomics: MS applied to the discovery of novel peptides from the brain. An automated method for scanning LC-MS data sets for significant peptides and proteins, including quantitative profiling and interactive confirmation. Striatal proteomic analysis suggests that fir...

Optimal levels of steroid hormone biosynthesis are assured by the integration of several regulatory mechanisms, including substrate delivery, enzymatic activity, and gene transcription. In the human adrenal cortex, optimal glucocorticoid secretion is achieved by the actions of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), which exerts transcriptional pressure on all genes involved in steroidogenesis. One of thes...

Adrenocorticotropin binding sites in the rat median eminence have been localized in vivo. These binding sites occur in the basalar zone, which is rich in axonal endings. Using competitive binding and quantitative light-microscope radioautography, we found that the median-eminence binding site, in contradistinction to the adrenal receptor, binds specifically the residue 4-10 region of the adreno...

Chester White pigs weighing 65 to 70 kg bearing surgically implanted catheters were placed under a surgical plane of anesthesia and subjected to programmed increases in dry bulb and dew point temperatures from 27C at a rate of 5 ~ per hour (70 to 80% relative humidity) until heart and respiratory action ceased. Changes in plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), adrenocorticoids and growth hormone le...

Allgrove syndrome or triple-Asyndrome is a rare familial multisystem autosomal recessive disorder. It is characterised by triad of alacrima, achalasia and adrenal insufficiency due to adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) resistance. If it is associated with autonomic dysfunction, it is termed as 4-Asyndrome. This syndrome is caused by a mutation in the Achalasia - Addisonism - Alacrima (AAAS) gen...

Cushing's syndrome (CS) occurs rarely during pregnancy. CS can be caused by prolonged abnormal exposure to excess glucocorticoids leading to special and significant signs and symptoms. It is often difficult to diagnose pathological hypercortisolism in pregnant women since some symptoms of the disease might be due to a complicated pregnancy, including preeclampsia or gestational diabetes. In thi...

The influence of prolactin and various other pituitary hormones on the initiation and maintenance of lactation has been the subject of frequent investigations during the past few decades (l-5). Species variation and the complexities inherent in ablation and substitution experiments in tivo have led to a vast and conflicting literature (6). Studies of rat mammary gland slices have indicated that...

OBJECTIVES Undetectable maternal serum unconjugated estriol levels in the second-trimester screening test have been associated with congenital pathology and an adverse pregnancy outcome. We reviewed outcomes of pregnancies with undetectable levels of estriol (<0.25 ng/ml) in the triple-marker screening test and assessed the clinical value of this finding. METHODS We studied estriol values in ...