Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is the primary hypothalamic releasing factor that mediates the mammalian stress response. The CRH-binding protein (CRH-BP) is secreted from corticotropes, the pituitary CRH target cells, suggesting that the CRH-BP may modulate hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity by preventing CRH receptor stimulation. Transgenic mice were generated that const...

Nerve growth factor-induced clone B (NGFI-B), Nur-related factor 1, and neuron-derived orphan receptor-1 have structural features of ligand-activated transcriptional regulators and constitute the NGFI-B subfamily within the nuclear receptor superfamily. The NGFI-B subfamily is highly expressed in neuroendocrine organs and regulates the pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) gene. Small-cell lung cancer (S...

Ninety-one human tumors, including various common carcinomas, low-grade malignant tumors, and benign tumors, were transplanted into athymic nude mice. Tumor take was confirmed histologically for 22 neoplasms at the initial transplantation, and 14 serially transplantable tumors were established, including some hitherto unestablished or unreported, such as lung and hepatic cell carcinomas. Among ...

Background: Association of Addison's disease with connective tissue diseases such as scleroderma and Sjogren have been rarely reported. Anti-centromere antibody (ACA) has been associated with exocrine gland dysfunction in anti-Ro, anti-La negative Sjogren’s syndrome and may be one of the causes of xerostomia in community. The purpose of this article was to introduce a rare case of scleroderma-S...

It has been observed that bovine adrenocortical cells in culture fail to synthesize cortisol, while synthesizing deoxycortisol and other precursor steroids. The reason for this loss of activity of 11b-hydroxylase (cytochrome P-450118) was investigated. Treatment of cultures with 30 PM cortisol reduced the half-life of llb-hydroxylase activity from 40 h to 9 h. The concentration of cortisol caus...

OBJECTIVE Adaptation to stress is a fundamental component of life and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA) plays a crucial role in it. The place of cannabinoid influence seems to be in the brain, especially where corticotropin releasing hormone and vasopressin (AVP) secreting neurons are located. The role of AVP is considered to be more important in young than in adult rats. Here...

Neuropeptides are signaling molecules participating in the modulation of synaptic transmission. Neuropeptides are stored in dense core synaptic vesicles, the release of which requires profound excitation. Only in the extracellular space, neuropeptides act on G-protein coupled receptors to exert a relatively slow action both preand postsynaptically. Consequently, neuropeptide modulators are idea...

Williamson M, Viau V. Selective contributions of the medial preoptic nucleus to testosterone-dependant regulation of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and the HPA axis. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 295: R1020–R1030, 2008. First published August 6, 2008; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.90389.2008.—Previous data have consistently demonstrated an inhibitory effect of androgens on stres...