Previous in vivo studies have shown that delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal active ingredient in marijuana, can suppress both luteinizing hormone (LH) and growth hormone (GH) secretion after its injection into the third ventricle of conscious male rats. The present studies were designed to determine the mechanism of these effects. Various doses of THC were incubated with either s...

Nitric oxide (NO) affects reproductive processes both at the level of the brain and reproductive tract and this review is focused on its role as an essential regulator of the hypothalamic control of reproduction. The data gathered indicate that glutamate stimulates noradrenergic neurons which subsequently activate NO-ergic cells via alpha1-adrenergic receptors. The released NO diffuses into lut...

BACKGROUND We have shown that the ouabain-sensitive α2 Na,K-ATPase is required for adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-induced hypertension and gestational blood pressure regulation. It is therefore of interest to explore whether this binding site participates in the development of other forms of hypertension, such as deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt using mutant mice with altered sensiti...

Dexmedetomidine, a potent α2-adrenoceptor (α2-AR) agonist, is extensively used in the operating room (OR) and intensive care unit (ICU) has been applied for treatment of several diseases. Western blotting routinely to investigate protein levels α-adrenergic receptor (α-AR), apoptosis related proteins (Bcl-2, Bax Cleaved Caspase 3) range associated with Nrf2/ARE pathway (Nrf2, HO-1, NQO-1, SOD) ...

The requirements of purified rat Leydig cells for intra- and extra-cellular Ca2+ during steroidogenesis stimulated by LH (lutropin), cyclic AMP analogues and LHRH (luliberin) agonist were investigated. The intracellular Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]i) were measured by using the fluorescent Ca2+ chelator quin-2. The basal [Ca2+]i was found to be 89.4 +/- 16.6 nM (mean +/- S.D., n = 25). LH, 8-brom...

The vomeronasal system of mammals is a specialized chemosensory pathway that parallels the main olfactory system but is anatomically distinct from its peripheral aspect through its projections into the central nervous system.'.' Recent evidence suggests a predominant role for the vomeronasal system in conveying the influence of odor stimuli upon neuroendocrine and on a variety of motivated beha...

Reproduction is adversely affected by alcohol abuse in humans and laboratory animals. In rats, alcohol exposure suppresses both luteinizing hormone (LH) and sex steroid secretion, although consensus is lacking as to which level of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis is primarily affected. We tested the hypothesis that acute alcohol treatment inhibits the HPG axis by blunting release o...

We investigated the expression of salivary α2-macroglobulin (α2-MG) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) to investigate its value for predicting damage to the salivary glands. A total of 116 patients with T2DM and 60 patients with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) were included in this study. Sixty health volunteers were enrolled as a control group. Unstimulated saliva was collected at...

caspian kutum, rutilus frisii kutum, is one of the most commercially important fish species in the caspian sea, but there are few reports about the endocrinology of induced spawning in this fish. in the present study, 54 individuals of female broodstocks of kutum were studied for quantity and quality of propagation index, during march and april 2007. hormone treatments include: lhrh-a2 (1 ?g kg...