Hyperactivity of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is the main biochemical change, besides disturbed monoaminergic neurotransmission, observed in the patients suffering from a major depression. High incidence of depression in Cushing's syndrome as well as antidepressant effects of adrenocortical enzyme inhibitors in major depression support hypothesis that hyperactivity of HPA axis may ...

Background Preclinical and some clinical studies suggest a relationship between perturbation in magnesium homeostasis and pathological anxiety, although the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Since there is evidence that Mg modulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, we tested whether enhanced anxiety-like behaviour can be reliably elicited by dietary Mg restriction and ...

A dose of 1.5 micrograms/kg of MCI-028, human corticotropin-releasing hormone (hCRH), was administered intravenously to 38 children with non-endocrine short stature with normal function in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and to 71 children with a disorder in the same axis. Blood levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol were determined to evaluate the axis. The 95%...

PURPOSE Abnormal regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and diurnal cortisol rhythms are associated with several pain and chronic inflammatory conditions. Chronic stress may have a role in the disorder of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome related to initiation or exacerbation of the syndrome. We tested the hypothesis that men with chronic pelvic pain syndrome have ...

Dominance contests are recurrent and widespread causes of stress among mammals. Studies of activation of the stress axis in social defeat - as reflected in levels of adrenal glucocorticoid, cortisol - have generated scattered and sometimes contradictory results, suggesting that biopsychological individual differences might play an important mediating role, at least in humans. In the context of ...

Longitudinal study of 2 cohorts of children selected in the second or third year of life to be extremely cautious and shy (inhibited) or fearless and outgoing (uninhibited) to unfamiliar events revealed preservation of these 2 behavioral qualities through the sixth year of life. Additionally, more of the inhibited children showed signs of activation in 1 or more of the physiological circuits th...