Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

To further explore the differential effects of peripherally and centrally derived hypercortisolism on neurohormonal systems implicated in the pathophysiology of mood and cognitive disturbances, we examined the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of immunoreactive somatostatin (IR-SRIF) in patients with Cushing's disease and major depression and the relationship of these levels to CSF immunoreactive corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) concentrations and urinary free cortisol excretion. In particular, since CSF SRIF levels consistently have been shown to be reduced in depression, we wished to assess whether decreased centrally directed SRIF was more likely a primary or a secondary factor in the hypercortisolism of major depression. CSF SRIF levels were significantly reduced in 11 patients with documented Cushing's disease and in 1 patient with ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion as compared with both 41 healthy volunteers (19.4 +/- 2.9 vs. 37.4 +/- 1.5 pmol/l; p < 0.01) and 28 patients with major depression (30.2 +/- 2.4 pmol/l; p < 0.05), whose CSF SRIF levels were also significantly reduced as compared with controls (p < 0.05). CSF SRIF levels in the Cushing's disease patients correlated positively with CSF CRH (r = 0.64; p < 0.025), suggesting that either the sustained hypercortisolism in these patients and/or its suppression of central CRH secretion contributed to the reduction in SRIF. A more modest but significant correlation between CSF SRIF and CSF CRH was observed in the healthy volunteers (r = 0.37; d.f. = 37; p < 0.02); in the depressed patients, no linear relationship, but rather an inverted U-shaped relationship was found which significantly fit by a quadratic function (r2 = 0.90; d.f. = 22; p < 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Cerebrospinal fluid immunoreactive somatostatin concentrations in patients with Cushing's disease and major depression: relationship to indices of corticotropin-releasing hormone and cortisol secretion. 809 79

In conscious rats, i.v. administered adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH-(4-10)) and gamma 2-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (gamma 2-MSH) induced a dose-dependent increase in blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and pulse pressure (PP). No circadian influence on these effects was observed. The structurally related peptide, alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH), only caused an increase in HR, which was not dose-dependent, whereas the stable ACTH-(4-9) analog, Org 2766, was without effect on these hemodynamic parameters. In rats under light urethane-induced anesthesia, which is known to maintain reflexes and sufficient sympathetic tone, gamma 2-MSH caused hemodynamic responses similar to those observed in conscious rats. In contrast, gamma 2-MSH had an opposite effect in rats under deep pentobarbital-induced anesthesia: a depressor effect combined with a slight bradycardia. A comparative study with rats of a more arousable Wistar rat substrain (Riv:TOX) and of a less excitable rat substrain (U:WU) showed that the dose-pressor response curves for ACTH-(4-10) and gamma 2-MSH were shifted to the left in the more excitable rats as compared to the in the less excitable rats. We conclude that a restricted amino acid sequence in the N-terminal part of the pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-molecule (gamma 2-MSH/ACTH-(4-10)-like) is responsible for the stimulating effects on the cardiovascular system and that those effects are strongly dependent on the state of arousal, i.e. sympathetic tone, of the rat. These stimulatory effects override a depressor phenomenon which can only be detected during central depression.
 ...
PMID:The hemodynamic effects of gamma 2-melanocyte-stimulating hormone and related melanotropins depend on the arousal potential of the rat. 838 86

The reactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis was investigated in 10 female patients fulfilling the Yunus criteria for the primary fibromyalgia syndrome (PFS) and in 10 matched, healthy and sedentary controls. The 2 groups were subjected to a dexamethasone suppression (DXM) test, a corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) test and an insulin induced hypoglycemia (IH) test. In the DXM test there was no escape from suppression in patients or controls. The CRH and the IH tests showed a markedly enhanced, and statistically significant, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) release in patients with PFS versus controls, while the cortisol response in both groups was not different. Our data suggest that fibromyalgia is related to a neuroendocrine disorder characterized by hyperreactive pituitary ACTH release and a relative adrenal hyporesponsiveness. This HPA response pattern is unique and contrasts to the hypercortisolemic responses observed in affective disorders, e.g., depression, which like PFS, are often thought to be precipitated by chronic stress. Our findings seem to indicate a relative adrenal insufficiency in PFS, which might serve clinically as an explanation for the reduced aerobic capacity and impaired muscle performance these patients display.
 ...
PMID:Altered reactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in the primary fibromyalgia syndrome. 847 45

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) was administered to 21 patients with major depression and 20 normal control subjects. Thirty-two subjects also underwent an overnight dexamethasone suppression test. The patient group did not differ significantly from the control group in adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) or cortisol response. Dexamethasone suppression status did not affect ACTH or cortisol response. This study supports the hypothesis that unlike the response to corticotropin releasing hormone, the ACTH response to AVP is not attenuated in depression.
 ...
PMID:Pituitary-adrenal axis response to arginine vasopressin in patients with major depression. 838 17

Increased adrenal cortex responsiveness to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) has been suggested to contribute to increased cortisol secretion in dexamethasone nonsuppression and melancholia. To further examine this hypothesis, the following variables were examined in 68 patients with unipolar depression (minor, n = 24; simple major, n = 25; melancholic, n = 19): basal or post-Synacthen [ACTH(1-24), 250 micrograms IV] intact ACTH(1-39), beta-endorphin/beta-lipotropin, cortisol, and androstenedione concentrations, as well as the postdexamethasone (DST) plasma ACTH(1-39) and cortisol values. Melancholic subjects showed significantly higher baseline ACTH(1-39), beta-endorphin/beta-lipotropin, and androstenedione values compared with subjects with minor depression. No significant differences in post-Synacthen cortisol or androstenedione secretion between any of the groups or between [ACTH(1-39) or cortisol] DST nonsuppressors and suppressors were found. No significant relationships between DST and ACTH test results were observed. Abnormally increased post-DST cortisol values in melancholic subjects were highly predicted (> 68% of the variance) by post-DST intact ACTH levels. ACTH(1-39) values were significantly lower after Synacthen administration in melancholic subjects than in subjects with minor depression. These results are not consistent with the hypothesis that melancholia is characterized by an increased adrenocortical responsivity to exogenous ACTH compared with minor depression or that DST nonsuppression is due to adrenal hyperresponsiveness.
 ...
PMID:Pituitary and adrenal hormone responsiveness to Synacthen in melancholic subjects versus subjects with minor depression. 839 86

Long-term (21 days) treatment with imipramine, clomipramine (tricyclic antidepressants) and clorgyline (monoamine-oxidase type A inhibiting antidepressant) produced significant decreases in plasma corticosterone levels in fawn-hooded (FH) rats. In contrast, plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels were not altered by chronic imipramine or clorgyline treatment but were significantly higher in chronic clomipramine-treated FH rats. These findings demonstrate a differential effect of chronic antidepressant treatment on plasma ACTH and corticosterone concentrations in FH rats and, furthermore, support the results of earlier studies suggesting that the FH rat strain may represent a genetic model of depression.
 ...
PMID:Attenuation of hypercortisolemia in fawn-hooded rats by antidepressant drugs. 840 26

Reports of characteristic psychiatric symptoms occurring in patients with pancreatic cancer appear regularly in the literature. A review of this literature reveals that symptoms of depression and/or anxiety may appear in approximately 50% of patients with pancreatic cancer before the diagnosis is made. This review proposes that the psychopathology of pancreatic tumors may be linked to tumor-induced changes in neuroendocrine or acid-base systems. Although confirmatory data are lacking, informed speculation centers on the potential role of adrenocorticotropic hormone, parathyroid hormone, thyrotropin-releasing hormone, glucagon, serotonin, insulin, and bicarbonate in the production of depression and/or anxiety in this disease. Elucidation of the pathophysiology of the psychiatric symptoms in patients with pancreatic cancer may provide a marker for early diagnosis of pancreatic neoplasia as well as a probe into the biologic bases of depression and anxiety.
 ...
PMID:Psychopathology of pancreatic cancer. A psychobiologic probe. 849 2

To further examine the association between basal and postdexamethasone (DST) pituitary and adrenal activity in depression, the authors measured intact adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), androstenedione and cortisol, both in baseline and post-DST conditions, in 63 depressed subjects (14 minor, 33 simple major and 16 melancholic subjects). It was found that post-DST androstenedione, cortisol and ACTH values were significantly higher in melancholic than in minor depressed subjects. There were highly significant correlations between plasma androstenedione and ACTH both in baseline and post-DST conditions. The significant intercategory differences in post-DST androstenedione were determined by differences in post-DST ACTH. Basal and post-DST androstenedione values were significantly higher in men than in women and both values were significantly and negatively related to age. There were highly significant, positive relationships between cortisol and ACTH and between cortisol and androstenedione both in baseline and post-DST conditions. The results corroborate our hypotheses that, in depression, pituitary (ACTH) and adrenal (cortisol and androstenedione) hormonal secretion are tightly coupled in post-DST conditions and that the augmented escape of ACTH-target hormones in melancholia is, in part, related to that of pituitary ACTH.
 ...
PMID:An augmented escape of androstenedione from suppression by dexamethasone in melancholia: relationships to intact ACTH and cortisol nonsuppression. 855 Sep 55

The effects of a 2-h infusion of a low dose of cortisol on concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol were studied in six inpatients with recurrent major depression and six healthy volunteers. Each subject was studied twice and received, in random order, from 11:00 to 13:00 h a 25 ml/h infusion of either 3 mg/h of cortisol or saline. Blood samples for ACTH and cortisol determination were drawn between 10:45 and 13:00 h every 15 min. ACTH and cortisol measurements in patients did not differ significantly from those in volunteers at any of the time points tested. The finding of an intact intermediate feedback in depression, where nonsuppression on the dexamethasone suppression test is frequently observed, may be explained by the binding of cortisol at limbic and hypothalamic corticosteroid receptors, while dexamethasone acts primarily at the pituitary. Findings of this pilot investigation should be confirmed in larger groups of patients for whom data from the dexamethasone suppression test are also available.
 ...
PMID:Intermediate glucocorticoid feedback of corticotropin secretion in patients with major depression. 877 Dec 31

Recently, our laboratory found a significant enhancing effect of L-5-hydroxy-tryptophan (L-5-HTP) on post-dexamethasone (DST) plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol levels in major-but not in minor-depression. To further elucidate the effects of central serotonin (5-HT) activity on the negative feedback of glucocorticoids on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis function in depression, this study investigates the effects of buspirone, a 5-HT1A receptor agonist, on post-DST ACTH and cortisol levels in 75 depressed subjects. Plasma post-DST ACTH and cortisol concentrations were significantly increased by the acute administration of buspirone (30 mg PO) compared to placebo. There were no differences in buspirone-induced post-DST ACTH or cortisol responses between minor and major depression. There were significant correlations between post-DST ACTH and cortisol, and between post-DST-buspirone ACTH and cortisol. The buspirone-induced post-DST cortisol responses were significantly higher in depressed women than men. It is concluded that buspirone may augment ACTH and, consequently, cortisol escape from suppression by dexamethasone in major as well as in minor depression.
 ...
PMID:Acute administration of buspirone increases the escape of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis hormones from suppression by dexamethasone in depression. 877 5


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>