Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an established treatment for symptomatic patients with heart failure, a prolonged QRS duration, and impaired left ventricular (LV) function. Identification of 'responders' and 'non-responders' to CRT has attracted considerable attention. The response to CRT can be measured in terms of symptomatic response or clinical outcome, or both. Alternatively, th...

Objective: To assess prospectively the effect of cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) on New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class, cardiac function, cardiopulmonary exercise performance, and neurohormonal activation during 24 months’ follow up. Design: Controlled study. Patients and Results: 124 patients with severe congestive heart failure (ejection fraction, 35%, NYHA III– IV) an...

Activation of several neurohormonal systems occurs during acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and is associated with short- and long-term outcomes. In the last few years, many circulating factors have received close attention but it is not clear which are the best prognostic indicators of mortality. Renin and natriuretic cardiac peptides appeared to be strong predictors of outcome in patients wit...

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is a key player of basal and stress-activated responses in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) and in extrahypothalamic circuits, where it functions as a neuromodulator to orchestrate humoral and behavioral adaptive responses to stress. This review describes molecular components and cellular mechanisms involved in CRH signaling downstream of its G...

Social living has evolved numerous times across a diverse array of animal taxa. An open question is how the transition to a social lifestyle has shaped, and been shaped by, the underlying neurohormonal machinery of social behaviour. The nonapeptide neurohormones, implicated in the regulation of social behaviours, are prime candidates for the neuroendocrine substrates of social evolution. Here, ...

CA1 region of hippocampus has an important role in learning and memory. Previous reports have shown that androgens like testosterone and its metabolites are present in high concentration in CA1 region of hippocampus. Androgen receptors have also high density in this region. Therefore, it is suggested that neurohormones in CA1 have an important role in learning and memory. It is likely that test...

Synthetic insecticides are very efficient in insect control but can be harmful for the environment and health. They cause disturbances in ecosystem functioning, are toxic for a wide range of non-target organisms, and have a high tendency to accumulate in the environment. Because of this, some alternatives are being sought. A good solution seems to use biologically active peptides like peptide h...

Antidepressants have good efficacy in the treatment of mood disorders, with effect sizes that have consistently been found to be greater than those of placebo. The more recent antidepressants do not have better efficacy than the compounds discovered 40 to 50 years ago, but they do have a more favorable configuration of side effects, leading to fewer dropouts. This favorable situation has made i...

We assessed sympathovagal balance in thyrotoxicosis. Fourteen patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism were studied before and after 7 days of treatment with propranolol (40 mg 3 times a day) and in the euthyroid state. Data were compared with those obtained in a group of age-, sex-, and weight-matched controls. Autonomic inputs to the heart were assessed by power spectral analysis of heart rate v...

The endocrine mechanisms controlling the development and reproduction of flight-capable (long-winged) and flightless (short-winged or wingless) morphs of wing-polymorphic insects have been intensively investigated. The "classical model," put forward in the early 1960s, postulates that morph-specific differences in development and reproduction are caused by variation in the titers of juvenile ho...