Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0002453 (amenorrhea)
 6,245 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The aim of the present study is to review current knowledge of the endogenous opiates in order to identify both their basic features and their receptors' properties, including the biological effects of their stimulation, and finally their endocrine actions. Since the identification of methionine-enkephalin and leucin-enkephalin, many opioid peptides with higher molecular weight have been characterized, and their origin from specific precursor has been recognized: proopiomelanocortin, preproenkephalin A, preproenkephalin B. In particular we have analyzed the pharmacological properties and the biological effects of beta-endorphin and met -and leu-enkephalins, the most diffuse of opioids. The use of naloxone has permitted the study of endogenous opioid tone and its effects on the release of the pituitary hormones. The present study reports a summary of data in the literature and personal observation indicating that the peripheral sexual steroids are the most important modulators of naloxone effects on endogenous opioid tone. Finally, the paper reports preliminary observations indicating that during naloxone infusion, females with hypothalamic amenorrhoea show a hormonal profile which differs from normal subjects.
 ...
PMID:[Role of endogenous opioids in the modulation of hypophyseal hormone secretion]. 215 87

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis exerts profound, multilevel inhibitory effects on the female reproductive system. Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and CRH-induced proopiomelanocortin peptides inhibit hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion, whereas glucocorticoids suppress pituitary luteinizing hormone and ovarian estrogen and progesterone secretion and render target tissues resistant to estradiol. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is thus responsible for the "hypothalamic" amenorrhea of stress, which is also seen in melancholic depression, malnutrition, eating disorders, chronic active alcoholism, chronic excessive exercise, and the hypogonadism of the Cushing syndrome. Conversely, estrogen directly stimulates the CRH gene promoter and the central noradrenergic system, which may explain adult women's slight hypercortisolism; preponderance of affective, anxiety, and eating disorders; and mood cycles and vulnerability to autoimmune and inflammatory disease, both of which follow estradiol fluctuations. Several components of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and their receptors are present in reproductive tissues as autacoid regulators. These include ovarian and endometrial CRH, which may participate in the inflammatory processes of the ovary (ovulation and luteolysis) and endometrium (blastocyst implantation and menstruation), and placental CRH, which may participate in the physiology of pregnancy and the timing of labor and delivery. The hypercortisolism of the latter half of pregnancy can be explained by high levels of placental CRH in plasma. This hypercortisolism causes a transient postpartum adrenal suppression that, together with estrogen withdrawal, may partly explain the depression and autoimmune phenomena of the postpartum period.
 ...
PMID:Interactions between the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the female reproductive system: clinical implications. 969 32

Anorexia nervosa is a syndrome of unknown etiology. It is associated with multiple endocrine abnormalities. Hypothalamic monoamines (especially serotonin), neuropeptides (especially neuropeptide Y and cholecystokinin) and leptin are involved in the regulation of human appetite, and in several ways they are changed in anorexia nervosa. However, it remains to be clarified whether the altered appetite regulation is secondary or etiologic. Increased secretion of corticotropin-releasing hormone and proopiomelanocortin seems to be secondary to starvation, however, there is evidence that it may maintain and intensify anorexia, excessive physical activity and amenorrhea. Hypothalamic amenorrhea, which is a diagnostic criterion in anorexia nervosa, is not solely related to the low body weight and exercise. Growth hormone resistance with low production of insulin-like growth factor I and high growth hormone secretion reflect the nutritional deprivation. The nutritional therapy of patients with anorexia nervosa might be improved by administering an anabolic agent such as growth hormone or insulin-like growth factor I. So far none of the endocrine abnormalities have proved to be primary, however, there is increasing evidence that some of these might participate in a vicious circle.
 ...
PMID:A review of endocrine changes in anorexia nervosa. 1022 46

A 29-year-old woman was admitted in March 1998 due to high plasma ACTH levels, amenorrhea and uncontrolled diabetes mellitus (DM) which had persisted since 1991. Plasma ACTH levels showed a wide range of changes: they were usually high (59-240 pg/ml), intermittently very high (336-942 pg/ml), and sometimes normal or low. Plasma cortisol levels were usually normal but were sometimes high when the ACTH levels were very high. However, even when the plasma ACTH levels were very high, she did not show any cushingoid features. DM was diagnosed as non-insulin-dependent DM. Plasma ACTH showed an excessive response to CRH, while cortisol showed a delayed response. Plasma cortisol showed a poor response to ACTH-(1-24). ACTH receptor gene analysis revealed no mutations in the ACTH receptor-coding region. MRI showed a nonenhancing mass on the left side of the pituitary. Cavernous sinus sampling showed a very high plasma ACTH level in the left cavernous sinus compared with the levels in the right cavernous sinus and peripheral blood. Sephadex G-75 gel filtration of plasma ACTH immunoreactivity in plasma obtained by cavernous sinus sampling showed mainly high molecular forms of ACTH, probably proopiomelanocortin and ACTH-beta-lipotropin. This case is a very rare form of pituitary adenoma showing intermittent secretion of high molecular ACTH unaccompanied by cushingoid features.
 ...
PMID:Pituitary adenoma showing intermittent secretion of high molecular weight adrenocorticotropin without evidence of Cushing's disease. 1064 Aug 99