We have studied the role of gap junction-mediated intercellular communication on the steroidogenic response of bovine (BAC) and human (HAC) adrenal fasciculo-reticularis cells in culture to corticotropin (ACTH). Indirect immunofluorescence analyses showed that intact human and bovine adreno-cortical tissue as well as HAC and BAC in culture expressed the gap junction protein connexin43 (also ter...

Mice deficient in proopiomelanocortin peptides (Pomc(-/-)) generated on a 129 (A(w)/ A(w)) genetic background were back-crossed onto the C57BL/6 (a/a) genetic background. These mice exhibited most of the phenotypic characteristics previously reported on the 129 genetic background (Yaswen et al. 1999. Nat. Med. 5: 1066-1070). Adult mice became obese, their adrenals were atrophied, and they had u...

Children of depressed parents often exhibit emotion-regulation deficits, characterized by either excessive withdrawal or approach strategies toward the mother. The current study examined behavioral and physiological emotion-regulation in preweanling pups (postnatal day 17-19) belonging to two different genetic animal models of depression, Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and Flinders Sensitive-Line (FSL) rat...

Recent evidence has supported the notion that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and the sympatho-adreno-medullary (SAM) systems are modulated by cortical structures such as the prefrontal cortex. This top-down modulation may play a major role in the neuroendocrine changes associated with stressful events. We aimed to investigate further this hypothesis by modulating directly prefrontal c...

Cushing's syndrome (CS), first described by the neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing in the 1930s, is the result of chronic glucocorticoid excess. In patients with adreno-corticotropic hormone (ACTH)-dependent CS, bilateral hyperplasia of the adrenal cortex occurs, while in those with ACTH-independent primary CS, either adrenocortical tumors or primary adrenal hyperplasia can be observed. Cortisol-secre...

To the Editor: We reported 2 cases of ectopic thyroid gland (ETG) masquerading as pituitary adenoma (PA). The first case was a 15‐year‐old boy with growth, and mental retardation whose height was 121 cm and weight was 44 kg on admission. Bone age development index was 40, while bone age showed 6–10 years old. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed pituitary hyperplasia [Figure 1a]. Thyroid u...

Moderate anaemia of a hypochromic, normocytic type is a common feature of rheumatoid arthritis (Freireich, Ross, Bayles, Emerson, and Finch, 1957a). Disturbance of iron metabolism is a prominent feature of this anaemia. The plasma iron is low in the presence of active disease (Bruzzone and Massimello, 1940: Nilsson, 1948), but there is no significant increase in the plasma iron-binding capacity...

Heart rate (HR) is a precisely regulated variable, which plays a critical role in health and disease. Elevated resting HR is a significant predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the general population and patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). β-blocking drugs exert negative effects on regional myocardial blood flow and function when HR reduction is eliminated by atrial pac...

DDD—2,2-bis-(para-chlorophenyl)-l,l-dichloroethane—a derivative of DDT—2,2-bis-(parachlorophenyl)-l,l,l-trichloroethane—causes se vere adrenal cortical atrophy in the dog (9, 15-17, 25). Larson et al. (9) found that the two chlorines in the 1-position of the ethane group were critical, with adrenal cortical atrophy failing to develop with the chlorine at the 3 or 1 position, or absent (...

The role of adrenergic agents in augmenting proximal tubular salt and water flux, was studied in a preparation of freshly isolated rabbit renal proximal tubular cells in suspension. Norepinephrine (NE, 10(-5) M) increased sodium influx (JNa) 60 +/- 5% above control value. The alpha adrenergic antagonist, phentolamine (10(-5) M), inhibited the NE-induced enhanced JNa by 90 +/- 2%, while the beta...