Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0028754 (obesity)
 124,988 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Ectopic ACTH syndrome is a clinicopathologic condition produced by certain tumors which release hormone that is indistinguishable from ACTH. It orginates the chemical and clinical anomalies characteristic of Cushing's syndrome by its action on the adrenal glands. The tumors may be present in any organ, though they are most frequently found in the lungs, thymus, pancreas or gastrointestinal tract. They may be benign or malignant, though usually the latter. Secretion of the hormone is completely autnomous; it is release in a way similar to that of the hypophysis. Not infrequently other hormones besides ACTH are also produced, such as MSH, serotonin, and CRF. Ectopic ACTH is of higher molecular weight than hypophyseal ACTH, which suggest it may be comprised of the latter bounded covalently to a peptide. The clinical course is rapid, so that not all of the symptoms of Cushing's syndrome develop. Moon face, osteoporosis, and obesity are typically lacking; melanodermia and hypokalemic alkalosis ofter appear. Laboratory data include an increase in ACTH and cholesterol concentrations, disappearance of the nictameral rhythm, and an increase in urinary excretion of 17-hydroxycorticoids and 17-ketosteroids. Stimulation and supression tests are abnormal. The prognosis is poor and the only possible treatment is a complete surgical removal of the tumor. Irradiation or chemotherapy could be applied as well as the correction of the adrenal hyperfunction by the administration of drugs or by total bilateral adrenalectomy.
 ...
PMID:[Ectopic ACTH syndrome (author's transl)]. 22 77

The binding of chicken thyroglobulin-coated chicken red blood cells by splenic, thymic, and bursal lymphoid cells was analysed in Obese strain (OS) chickens with spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis and normal white Leghorn controls aged 1 week to 2.5 yr. Chicken erythrocytes coated with pneumococcal polysaccharide SIIII served as controls. The specificity of thyroglobulin-rosette-forming cells was verified by inhibition experiments. OS chickens showed significantly higher counts of thyroglobulin-rosette-forming cells in the spleen and thymus as compared to normal controls while no such difference was found for SII-rosette-forming cells. The values obtained with bursal lymphoid cells were in the same range in both OS and normal white Leghorn birds. The appearance of thyroglobulin-rosette-forming cells and their peak values clearly preceded the maximum frequency and severity of thyroiditis and the peak of the thyroglobulin antibody curve. It is concluded that the presence of thyroglobulin rosette-forming cells is a prerequisite for the future development of spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis in the OS. Inhibition studies with specific turkey anti-chicken bursa and thymus cell sera revealed the B cell nature of active thyroglobulin-rosette-forming cells and suggested that passive rosette-forming cells were of T cell origin.
 ...
PMID:Thyroglobulin-binding lymphoid cells in obese strain (OS) chickens. 23 98

All major lymphoid organs from animals of the Obese strain (OS) of chickens which develop a spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis with circulating thyroglobulin autoantibodies (Tg-AAb) were investigated for Tg-AAb producing cells using the immunofluorescence method (IF). No Tg-binding cells could be detected in spleen, bursa. Harderian glands, thymus, coecal tonsils or bone marrow. The infiltrated thyroid gland was shown to be the only site of Tg-AAb production detectable by IF.
 ...
PMID:Immunofluorescence localization of thyroglobulin autoantibody producing cells in various organs of obese strain (OS) chickens. 34 76

The Obese strain (OS) of White Leghorn chickens develops a spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis with circulating thyroglobulin-autoantibodies (Tg-AAb) similar to human Hashimoto thyroiditis. The paper describes attempts to localize the site of Tg-AAb production in various organs of these animals using the immunofluorescence method. Tg-AAb producing plasma cells and germinal centers could be detected in the infiltrated thyroid glands but not in spleen, bone marrow, coecal tonsils, thymus, bursa of Fabricius and Harderian glands.
 ...
PMID:Immunofluorescent localization of thyroglobulin--autoantibody producing cells in various organs of obese strain (OS) chickens. 56 3

Obese strain chickens, which spontaneously develop autoimmune thyroiditis, were tested for their ability to tolerate skin allografts. Several procedures known to prolong graft survival in normal strains were employed. These included the use of skin matched at the major histocompatibility locus, grafting on the day of hatching, thymectomy, and x-irradiation. A dramatic difference between the Obese and the normal Cornell strain (the strain from which Obese was derived) was detected when both were thymectomized and grafted at hatching. Under these conditions eight of 13 normal but only one of 16 Obese strain birds retained their grafts for 50 days. This suggests the presence of an abnormal thymus or thymus-derived suppressor T cells in Obese strain chickens.
 ...
PMID:Abnormal response to minor histocompatibility antigens in Obese strain chickens. 78 74

Thyroglobulin-binding lymphoid cells were identified in the spleen of Obese strain (DS) chickens by their capacity to form rosettes with thyroglobulin-coated chicken red blood cells. The nature of these cells was studied in inhibition experiments using turkey anti-chicken bursa or thymus cell sera and rabbit antisera specific for chicken Ig, gamma, mu, alpha, Fabgamma or Fcgamma. Spleen cells actively synthesizing surface receptors for thyroglobulin were identified as B cells and the receptors found to be complete IgM molecules. Normal T cells became thyroglobulin-rosette-forming cells via passive adsorption of thyroglobulin antibodies, a phenomenon which could be inhibited competitively by the addition of normal chicken serum to the incubation medium. Thyroglobulin antibodies passively adsorbed onto the surface of normal T cells also belong to the IgM class as verified both by inhibition experiments and studies employing IgM and IgG fractions of a high titered OS serum for the preincubation of the cell suspensions. Only preincubation with the IgM fraction of the anti-thyroglobulin antibodies resulted in the formation of significant numbers of passive rosette-forming cells.
 ...
PMID:The nature of active and passive thyroglobulin binding lymphoid cells in Obese strain (OS) chickens. 82 40

This paper is intended to demonstrate the extension of experimental procedures used for the production of anti-chicken T-cell sera to the manufacturing of anti-human T-cell sera. Specific anti-chicken bursa (ABS) and anti-chicken thymus cell sera (ATS) were prepared in turkeys. The in vitro specificity of these sera was assessed by means of immunofluorescence and lymphocytotoxicity tests. The selective immunosuppressive effect of ABS was demonstrated in Obese strain (OS) chickens with spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis, that of ATS in a skin allograft system. A specific anti-human T-cell serum was prepared by immunizing a horse with fetal human thymus cells. After appropriate exhaustive absorptions this serum was found to react specifically with human T-cells. An anti-T cell globulin (ATG) fraction prepared from the absorbed antiserum was then labelled with FITC for use in direct immunofluorescence tests. The potential diagnostic value of T-cell specific antibodies is discussed.
 ...
PMID:Production and diagnostic application of anti-human T-cell antisera. 82 44

We have shown in earlier studies, that the development of spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis (SAT) in chickens of the Obese strain (OS) depends on the presence of both, two dominant genes coding for an altered immune regulation and one recessive gene responsible for the susceptibility of the target organ for the autoimmune attack. The product(s) of the latter is (are) still not known. The present study was aimed at identifying possible candidates of cellular components of the thyroid gland of OS chicken and its SAT susceptible parental Cornell C-strain (CS) by high resolution 2-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis. For this purpose organ cultures of the thyroid, bursa, thymus and liver were established and the synthesized polypeptides were labelled by 35S-methionine. OS and CS organs were compared with those of healthy normal White Leghorn (NWL) controls. The autoradiographs of the 2D-gels obtained from individual samples after various labelling periods were subjected to comparative analysis. We have found both quantitative and qualitative differences of polypeptide spots between OS/CS and NWL organ samples, some of them specific for the thyroid gland. Although one has to be aware that in this multidimensional analytical approach numerous, still elusive pattern differences are revealed, the thyroid specific phenomena will be further scrutinized.
 ...
PMID:Molecular analysis of genetically determined target organ abnormalities in spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis. 209 9

Bilateral basomedial hypothalamic (BMH) electrolytic lesions in White Leghorn cockerels produced six main physiological categories characterized by typical sets of symptoms: 1) functional castration (FC); hyperphagia, obesity, occasional diabetes insipidus, involuted adenohypophysis, dwarfism, atrophied comb and testes, reduced hematocrit, reduced plasma testosterone and thyroid activity, involuted thymus and adrenal cortex and elevated liver fat and plasma triglycerides and free fatty acids. The FC birds demonstrated defective immune response for the first 12 to 16 wk post-surgery. 2) functional castration with large comb (FCLC); hyperphagia, obesity, transient diabetes insipidus, slight diminution of adenohypophy-seal weight with marked reduction in basophilic cell population, fully atrophied testes but only slight reduction in comb size and hematocrit, plasma testosterone levels between those found in the first category and the control. 3) obese with normal testes (ONT); hyperphagia, obesity, high level of plasma lipids, normal histological organization of the adenohypophysis, normal testes, semen production and comb size. The next three categories exhibited physiological syndromes identical to the former three categories except for food intake, which operationally could be defined as normal. A marked difference among the BMH-lesioned birds was found in sexual behavior when the FC birds completely lost their libido. None of the replacement therapy regimens caused complete rehabilitation from adiposity or restoration of reproductive traits. Lipoprotein lipase activity increased at an early stage postlesioning and preceeded the development of hyperphagia. Placement of BMH lesions in newly hatched chicks resulted in marked dwarfism and obesity without hyperphagia. The BMH-lesioned heavy breed White Rock cockerels exhibited a lesser degree of adiposity than the light White Leghorn birds. Removal of the olfactory bulbs and destruction of the septal area resulted in increased thyroid activity, with secondary hyperphagia without obesity. In a short-term study, administration of sodium pentobarbital to the BMH area resulted in increased feeding. Conversely, glucose administration to the same area suppressed feeding in satiated but not in food-deprived chickens.
 ...
PMID:Role of the basomedial hypothalamus in regulation of adiposity, food intake, and reproductive traits in the domestic fowl. 267 24

The mouse adipsin gene encodes a member of the serine protease family that is expressed predominantly in adipose tissue and is secreted into the bloodstream. Adipsin expression is sharply down-regulated in several models of genetic and acquired obesity, representing the first example of an adipocyte gene whose expression is greatly altered in this disorder. In this study, we have asked whether a DNA fragment from the adipsin gene can direct tissue-specific expression of a heterologous gene and mediate the suppression of this expression in genetic and chemically induced obesity. Transgenic mice have been constructed with 950 bases of DNA from the 5' flanking region of the adipsin gene linked to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene in a mouse strain bearing a recessive obesity gene (diabetes, db). By crossing db/+ transgenic mice with nontransgenic db/+ mice, we obtained progeny that allowed a direct comparison of CAT expression in the tissues of lean and obese littermates. The lean mice express CAT activity predominantly in adipose tissue, while the obese mice show a marked reduction in CAT expression relative to the lean controls. When similar experiments are performed with an adipsin-CAT fusion gene containing a heterologous AKV (AKR mouse leukemia virus) enhancer, the tissue specificity of CAT expression in lean mice is broadened to include the thymus, spleen, brain, and other tissues; down-regulation occurs in all of these tissues in mice homozygous for the obesity gene or in mice that have been injected with monosodium glutamate (MSG), which induces obesity. These results indicate that 950 bases of the 5' flanking region of the adipsin gene carry information that specifies both expression in adipose tissue and a response to a gene or chemical that induces obesity. These results also suggest that the trans-acting factors that are regulated aberrantly in these forms of obesity are not restricted to adipose tissue and could play a role in obesity-linked dysfunctions observed in other tissues as well.
 ...
PMID:Obesity-linked regulation of the adipsin gene promoter in transgenic mice. 279 20


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next >>