Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P01178 (oxytocin)
 15,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The neuropeptides vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OXT) are supposed to be involved not only in peripheral functions (e.g. diuresis, labour and lactation) but also in central processes that are frequently disturbed during aging and senile dementia (e.g. fluid and electrolyte homeostasis and cognitive functions). A concomitant decrease in activity of the hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system (HNS) with aging has been postulated in the literature, but has not yet been established. In order to investigate possible age-related changes in the human HNS, immunocytochemically identified AVP and OXT neurons in the paraventricular and supraoptic nucleus (PVN and SON) were analysed morphometrically in subjects from 10 to 93 years of age, including patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT). Cell size was used as a parameter for peptide production. Mean profile area of OXT cells did not show any significant changes with increasing age. Mean profile area of AVP cells, however, showed an initial decrease up to the sixth decade of life, after which a gradual increase was observed. Size of AVP and OXT cell nuclei did not change significantly with aging. Observations in brains from patients with SDAT were within the range for their age group. The present results do not support degeneration or diminished function of the HNS in senescence or SDAT, as generally presumed in the literature, but suggest an activation of AVP cells after 80 years of age. The activation of AVP cells in senescence is in accordance with previous findings in the aged Wistar rat.
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PMID:The vasopressin and oxytocin neurons in the human supraoptic and paraventricular nucleus; changes with aging and in senile dementia. 404 17

Although senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type (SDAT) is a common disease associated with advancing age, recent studies have suggested that SDAT should not be considered synonymous with old age but a disease process separate from normal aging. This study examined the morphology of two neurochemically-defined neuronal populations (i.e., neurophysin, somatostatin) in the cortex and hypothalamus to determine if structural changes in these neuropeptide systems associated with advancing age are similar to those seen with SDAT. Our findings suggest that morphological changes consistent with neuronal degeneration occur in somatostatin but not neurophysin-containing neurons in cases diagnosed to have SDAT, and these structural changes are different from those seen in aged brain without central nervous system disease. These data support the concept that senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type is not a single neurochemical related disease, but may be associated with anatomical lesions and biochemical imbalances among a number of neuropeptide and neurotransmitter systems.
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PMID:Neuropeptides in aging and dementia. 614 37