Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0038187 (starvation)
 24,951 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The effect of previous chronic ACTH administration on the physiological response to acute and chronic immobilization stress was studied in adult male rats. Chronic ACTH administration slightly reduced food intake and drastically inhibited body weight gain. Serum corticosterone levels were similar in saline- and ACTH-treated rats twenty hours after the last administration. However, the corticosterone response to 1 hr immobilization was greatly reduced by previous ACTH administration. When the exposure to the stressor was prolonged up to 18 hours, the corticosterone response was similar in saline, and ACTH-treated rats. While body weight loss caused by starvation and acute stress was lower in ACTH-treated rats, stomach ulceration was greater in the latter animals. Although ACTH-treated rats showed higher body weight gain than saline-treated animals during chronic immobilization, this was probably due to catch-up growth as food intake inhibition caused by the stressor was similar in the two groups. Pituitary-adrenal adaptation to the repeated stressor was the same in saline- and ACTH-treated rats. Therefore, the effects of previous ACTH treated on the physiological response to either acute or chronic stress appear to be mixed, depending on the variable studied.
 ...
PMID:Previous chronic ACTH administration does not protect against the effects of acute or chronic stress in male rats. 281 6

The morphologic features of the anterior pituitary gland were studied by immunohistologic methods in 12 patients who had died of complications of anorexia nervosa, 4 patients who had died while on a "crash diet", 13 patients who had died of organic disease associated with inanition, and 5 age- and sex-matched control subjects who had been involved in sudden fatal accidents. All known pituitary hormones were found to be present. Abnormalities noted in both the patients with anorexia and those with organic inanition included relative hypogranulation of adrenocorticotropic and, to a lesser extent, growth hormone cells. These changes are of unknown importance but are likely the result of starvation in that they were not observed in patients on a "crash diet" or in control patients. We conclude that no specific or etiologic abnormalities are present in the pituitary glands of subjects with anorexia nervosa and that the altered secretion of adenohypophyseal hormones often noted in patients with this disorder cannot be attributed to a primary pituitary disorder.
 ...
PMID:Anorexia nervosa: an immunohistochemical study of the pituitary gland. 333 38

To test the effect of chronic starvation on gonadotrophin secretion and oestrous cycles, rats were fed 50% of their normal chow consumption for 16 days. This caused an increasing rate of anoestrus which became significant during the third expected cycle (6 of 10 rats, P less than 0.02) and increased to 8 of 10 rats (P less than 0.0001) between day 12 and 16. The accompanying weight loss was around 13 and 17%, respectively. Pituitary weights in intact rats killed on dioestrus became significantly different after 8 days of chow reduction (12.8 +/- 0.2 vs 11.3 +/- 0.4 mg, P less than 0.02) with further reductions in groups killed after 12 and 16 days. At this time dioestrous serum FSH levels were significantly increased in starved rats (112 +/- 16 vs 161 +/- 13 ng/ml, P less than 0.01), while serum LH levels decreased significantly after 12 days (25.0 +/- 3.4 vs 13.1 +/- 8.8 ng/ml, P less than 0.001). Starvation decreased the LH response to LRH administration compared to pro-oestrous controls (1934 +/- 672 vs 289 +/- 39 ng/ml, P less than 0.05), whereas the FSH response was not impaired (457 +/- 91 vs 336 +/- 54 ng/ml, P greater than 0.05). In contrast to this pituitary content of LH was similar in both groups, while FSH content was significantly higher in starved animals (13.6 +/- 1.7 vs 19.8 +/- 1.2 micrograms, P less than 0.01). Chronic starvation immediately after ovariectomy did not affect the post-castrational rise of gonadotrophins. However, LRH administration caused higher serum FSH levels in starved rats (1540 +/- 91 vs 1833 +/- 90 ng/ml, P less than 0.05), whereas LH values did not differ (908 +/- 192 vs 721 +/- 153 ng/ml, P greater than 0.05). Gonadotrophin content per pituitary in castrated rats after 16 days of starvation was unchanged.
 ...
PMID:Starvation induced anoestrus: effect of chronic food restriction on body weight, its influence on oestrous cycle and gonadotrophin secretion in rats. 641 20

The present experiments were undertaken to study the effect of complete food removal on body weight, pituitary growth hormone (GH), plasma GH and glucose concentration in male and female Wistar rats. Plasma and pituitary GH levels were measured by means of a specific radioimmunoassay. Plasma glucose concentration decrease during the initial 60 h fasting in males and 72 h in females, and remained fairly constant thereafter in both groups. Pituitary GH content was unchanged in males and females by 36 h and 60 h, respectively, after the onset of starvation. Thereafter, pituitary GH decreased progressively with increase of the starvation period. In spite of the changes in pituitary GH, plasma GH concentration in fasted male and female rats was similar to or higher than in controls. In fact, during an initial period, up to 72 h in males and 96 h in females, plasma GH levels in fasting rats were similar to control values. With longer starvation periods, plasma GH concentration rose above control values. After 24 h of refeeding 102 h fasted rats, plasma GH concentrations were comparable to control levels. In addition, after an initial loss of 10 g after 24 h fasting, body weight of both male and female animals decreased, and by the end of the starvation period it was about 50% of control weight. From these results it seems that complete food removal has a direct effect on pituitary GH. Furthermore, the fact that changes in plasma GH concentrations were evidentiated just before the period when plasma glucose was maintained at constant levels in fasted rats of both sexes supports the hypothesis that growth hormone plays a physiological role in the regulation of glucose homeostasis during starvation.
 ...
PMID:Effects of starvation on pituitary and plasma growth hormone in rats. 724 Jun 70

The neuropeptide galanin is predominantly expressed by the lactotrophs (the prolactin secreting cell type) in the rodent anterior pituitary and in the median eminence and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Prolactin and galanin colocalize in the same secretory granule, the expression of both proteins is extremely sensitive to the estrogen status of the animal. The administration of estradiol-17beta induces pituitary hyperplasia followed by adenoma formation and causes a 3,000-fold increase in the galanin mRNA content of the lactotroph. To further study the role of galanin in prolactin release and lactotroph growth we now report the generation of mice carrying a loss-of-function mutation of the endogenous galanin gene. There is no evidence of embryonic lethality and the mutant mice grow normally. The specific endocrine abnormalities identified to date, relate to the expression of prolactin. Pituitary prolactin message levels and protein content of adult female mutant mice are reduced by 30-40% compared with wild-type controls. Mutant females fail to lactate and pups die of starvation/dehydration unless fostered onto wild-type mothers. Prolactin secretion in mutant females is markedly reduced at 7 days postpartum compared with wild-type controls with an associated failure in mammary gland maturation. There is an almost complete abrogation of the proliferative response of the lactotroph to high doses of estrogen, with a failure to up-regulate prolactin release, STAT5 expression or to increase pituitary cell number. These data further support the hypothesis that galanin acts as a paracrine regulator of prolactin expression and as a growth factor to the lactotroph.
 ...
PMID:Galanin regulates prolactin release and lactotroph proliferation. 977 May 44

The contents of mRNAs encoding LH beta-, FSH beta-, TSH beta- and common alpha-subunit precursor molecules were measured in food-deprived and subsequently re-fed male Japanese quail. Pituitary LH beta, FSH beta and common alpha mRNA levels were decreased by starvation, and increased to the control levels by re-feeding. The rates of decreases of LH beta and common alpha mRNA levels were greater the corresponding rate for FSH beta levels. Pituitary TSH beta mRNA levels were not decreased by starvation, but increased transitorily by re-feeding. Plasma LH and triiodothyronine levels were decreased by starvation, and then increased to control levels by re-feeding, while plasma FSH and thyroxine levels did not show significant changes. Plasma LH and FSH levels showed positive correlations with pituitary common alpha and FSH beta mRNA levels, respectively, while plasma thyroxine levels showed a negative correlation with TSH beta mRNA levels. Hepatic weight was decreased slightly but significantly by starvation, and then showed a remarkable rebound after re-feeding was started. These results suggest that LH synthesis and secretion are more sensitive to starvation than FSH synthesis and secretion in Japanese quail, and that LH production recovered to initial levels within several days when birds were fully fed. Also, there is a possibility that the synthesis of TSH is accelerated transitorily by re-feeding. Furthermore, these results showed that there are different relationships between the plasma levels of LH, FSH, and TSH and the various hormone subunit mRNA levels. The remarkable change in hepatic weight leads us to assume that hepatic thyroid hormone metabolism is affected by starvation and re-feeding.
 ...
PMID:Effects of starvation and refeeding on gonadotropin and thyrotropin subunit mRNAs in male Japanese quail. 1213 Aug 23

Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a pleiotropic neuropeptide exerting diverse actions in the central and peripheral nervous systems. A few studies indicate that PACAP is involved in the regulation of feeding and water homeostasis. The aim of the present study was to investigate changes in PACAP38 concentrations in different brain areas following food or water deprivation in male and female rats. Rats were sacrificed 12, 36 and 84h after water or food removal. PACAP levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. Our results show that levels of PACAP decreased in the hypothalamus in both sexes after water deprivation, with a more marked, significant decrease in females at 12h. A decrease was observed also in the telencephalon, with a similar pattern in both genders: levels were lowest after 12h, and showed a gradual increase at the other two time-points. PACAP levels increased in the brainstem of male rats, while females had a decrease 12h after water deprivation. The pattern of changes in PACAP levels was very different after food deprivation. In male rats, PACAP levels showed a significant increase in the hypothalamus, telencephalon and brainstem 12h after the beginning of starvation. In females, a less marked increase was observed only in the hypothalamus while no changes were found in the other brain areas. Our results show a sensitive reaction in changes of endogenous PACAP levels to water and food deprivation in most brain areas, but they are differentially regulated in male and female rats.
 ...
PMID:Changes of PACAP levels in the brain show gender differences following short-term water and food deprivation. 1728 74